A New Student A New Power
by TranscodeNightCat
Summary: Duel Academy has a new class of students. One of them in particular has tapped in to the power of the Orichalcos. Its not the same Orichalcos that it once was, but it still has a little power left. How will Jaden and his friends handle this mysterious boy. Orichalcos, OC.
1. Prologue

**I do not own YU-GI-OH. check out my other stories. Reviews are appreciated. Thanks for reading. Enjoy.**

Aaron was an average 17 year old kid. He was in high school, enjoyed dueling, and got good grades. Aaron had brown hair and yellow eyes. His hair was short, thick, and typically uncombed. Aaron looked young for his age. Aaron always sported a black duel disk with a lime green core and a silver outline. Aaron had several bruises on his face and body because he got in to fights frequently. Aaron never picked the fights, but he never backed down and it usually resulted in bullies ganging up on him.

Aaron was running, some bullies were beating him up, and after they finished Aaron spat on one of them. This was a bad idea on Aaron's part, but as soon as he did he broke in to a sprint with the bullies on his tail. Aaron was running through the city and ducked inside of a building to escape. Later Aaron realized that it was The Duelist History Museum. Aaron was walking through it when a man with an i.d. badge who looked to be in his fifties asked, "What the hell happened to you kid?"

"I've been trying to escape from some guys" Aaron told him.

"You duel?" The man asked eyeing Aaron's duel disk. Aaron nodded his head yes. The man told Aaron to come with him. The man led Aaron to what appeared to be a small duel field. The man then said, "My name is Orwin, I am the curator of this museum and I challenge you to a duel."

"My name's Aaron" Aaron said powering on his duel disk.

The duel began with 4000 life points each. Orwin went first.

"I play one monster in face down defense position and place two cards facedown" He said.

Aaron started "I draw, I summon Slate Warrior in attack mode and play one card facedown. Slate Warrior, Attack his face down. The card flipped over and revealed Stone Statue of the Aztecs; This card had 2000 defense and its ability doubled any damage it dealt when attacked in defense mode. I activate my face down Rush Recklessly which grants my slate warrior 700 atk points for this turn only."

Aaron shattered the statue, played two cards facedown and ended his turn.

Orwin started, "I draw. I activate my facedown call of the haunted which allows me to bring back my statue. Next I activate Brain Control from my hand which allows me to pay 800 life points to take control of your slate warrior. Now, I tribute my statue and your Slate Warrior to summon my Blue-eyes white dragon in attack mode."

Aaron stared in awe at the legendary dragon.

"I see that you're impressed with my dragon. Now that it's out it won't be easy to destroy, so now I activate heavy storm on my field to destroy any of your traps that may harm it."

Aaron chuckled as he revealed a facedown, "I play magic jammer, by discarding a card from my hand I negate your heavy storm."

Orwin continued, "Blue eyes attack him directly" Blue eyes attacked him, but Aaron took no damage.

"I discard my Kuriboh to negate all battle damage from your blue eyes." Aaron called out.

Aaron drew a card and began his turn. "I special summon Cyber Dragon from my hand since I have no monsters on my field and I end my turn"

Orwin began, "This turn shall be your last. I activate brain control to take control of your Cyber Dragon, for 800 life points of course, as his life points fell to 2400. Now Cyber Dragon attack him directly." Aaron took the damage, his lifepoints falling to 1900. "Now Blue Eyes finish him off.

Not so fast Aaron said, "I activate Magic cylinder which deals damage equal to Blue eyes' attack"

Aaron had won the duel. Instead of smiling he picked up his deck and stared at it with an expression of sadness.

"What's wrong Aaron? You won, quite impressively I might add." Orwin asked him with a genuine look of concern. Aaron showed him the card in his deck he was staring at Emes the Infinity, its ability increased its attack by 700 points each time it destroyed a monster.

"I just wish that I had a chance to summon him" Aaron said staring at the card.

"I take it that's your ace?" Orwin asked as Aaron nodded his head.

"This is my best and favorite card, no matter what deck I build this card will always be a part of it." Aaron told him.

"With your skill I'm surprised you don't have more respect from people at your school, you're a great duelist" Orwin said.

"I don't duel often because those kids are arrogant; I only want to duel someone who has respect for the game, and their cards. These people don't even try to ask how I feel, or if we're even friends. All they care about is popularity, and when I refuse to duel them they beat me up. They make me feel like I have to prove something to them." Aaron responded.

Orwin said, "Look Aaron, you seem like a good kid, so if you need a place to hideout, just wanna talk, or even duel; you will always be welcome here."

Aaron thanked Orwin for the offer and went home. The next day was Saturday, and Aaron woke up, showered, got dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a polo t-shirt, ate breakfast, and got ready to go to the museum. Orwin was outside and seemed to be happy that Aaron took him up on his offer. Orwin escorted Aaron through the museum and showed him everything there was to see. He then handed Aaron an i.d. badge much like his. He told Aaron that this would give him clearance to restricted areas of the museum as well as recognition from other employees. Orwin then told him that he had a job as a museum guide if he wanted it. Aaron graciously accepted the offer.

Aaron spent his afternoons giving tours of the museum. He spent his nights studying duel history books that Orwin had loaned him. Orwin seemed to have taken Aaron under his wing as an apprentice. Aaron learned all sorts of things from Orwin, even a few new dueling tactics. Aarons bruises had healed, he had stopped fighting, for the most part; he still got in to fights when he knew there was no way to escape.

One day Aaron was giving a tour when Orwin called him over while another guide took over for him. Orwin escorted Aaron to his office where a glass case was sitting on his desk.

"Aaron, I pulled you away so that I could show you this" he said reaching in to the case. He held a small emerald green rock in his hand.

"This is a fragment of the Orichalcos. After Yugi Muto destroyed the seal, a few fragments remained. They say that the power is gone, but others think that the power was just weakened."

Orwin placed the fragment in Aaron's hand, Aaron saw a small glow coming from the rock and quickly handed it back to Orwin. Aaron showed great interest in the rock.

Aaron was getting ready to graduate from high school and was applying to colleges. Orwin recommended Duel Academy to him. Orwin was also on the school board, so he wrote Aaron a letter of recommendation. Aaron passed the entrance exam, and the duel test with a school deck. He had been accepted in to the Ra Yellow dorm. Aaron did some research on Duel Academy and heard about the Sacred Beast incident and the Society of Light. Orwin congratulated Aaron on the acceptance and had a small celebration at a restaurant for him. After the dinner, Orwin walked over to Aaron and handed him the Orichalcos fragment.

"Consider it a graduation gift; I've seen how much you've been studying it. Plus maybe you can unlock its hidden powers." Orwin told him.

Aaron thanked him and handed him a deck.

"What's this?" Orwin asked.

"My deck, take it; since I'm going to a new school I thought I should reinvent myself with a new deck. Don't worry Emes isn't in there. Just hold on to it for me, or give it to someone who needs it" Aaron told him.

"Thank you, and just remember that you can always call or email if you need to talk." Orwin said holding the deck like someone had given him a million dollars.

 _Orwin thought to himself. I should keep this safe just in case something happens, who knows maybe Aaron will become a champion duelist, then this deck will go on display with other great decks._

Aaron and Orwin walked away from each other, Orwin would continue to run the museum and Aaron would start a new life at Duel Academy. Aaron finished packing his bags and sat on his bed staring at the Orichalcos fragment; it wasn't glowing like the time he first held it.


	2. Chapter 1

"I can't wait to meet the new students!" Jaden Yuki exclaimed.

"Yeah it'll be a nice change of pace to get some new meat here" Chazz Princeton smirked.

"I heard Blair Flannigan is going to be a student here" Alexis Rhodes said making Jaden blush.

"I'll be happy to mentor em in everything dino" Tyranno Hassleberry said.

"I'm just glad I won't be the weakest student" Syrus Truesdale sighed in self-pity.

Just then an announcement came on from Chancellor Sheppard calling the students down to the auditorium to welcome the new class. Jaden and his friends made it to the auditorium to get a glimpse at the new class. They found seats together and began eyeing the new class.

The new students were organized by their dorms. In the back sat the Slifer reds considered slackers, and students who barely got accepted to the academy. In the middle sat the Ra Yellows, they were considered good students typically with potential for the Obelisk Blue dorm. In front sat the Obelisk blues they were the most respected students, they typically consisted of students with connections, students who went to prep schools, or students whose families had money. Then there were the Obelisk Blue Girls, they were much like the Obelisk Blue boys, but their uniforms were white and blue and they were a vest and a skirt while the boy uniforms were a jacket and slacks.

Chancellor Sheppard introduced the classes and then invited Blair (currently 16 years old) to make the freshman class announcement. Jaden continued eyeing the class until his eyes fell on Aaron. Aaron was not wearing the school uniform, he wore a black hoodie, a pair of black jeans, and his duel disk was black with a silver outline and a green core light. Most students were smiling and looking around, Aaron had his head down, looking at something in his hand.

"Who's that?" Jaden whispered pointing to Aaron.

"His name is Aaron, as part of the new student committee his name popped up a few times, apparently he had a letter of recommendation from someone on the board" Hassleberry told him.

"I heard about him too. Apparently before coming here, he prepared a new deck that no one else has seen." Alexis said.

Blair had just finished her speech and Chancellor Sheppard grabbed the microphone to make an announcement.

"This year things will be different, you may duel any year students that you wish. This means a third year can duel a first-year. The abandoned dorm is still off limits to all students. Please take advantage of this new rule on dueling to make the most of this school year; that is all." The chancellor finished. The chancellor then dismissed all students to their respective dorms.

Aaron stood up, put the stone in his pocket and got ready to go to his dorm when Jaden ran over to him.

"Hi, my name's Jaden Yuki, wanna have a duel?" he asked with excitement.

"My name's Aaron, and I'm not interested in a duel right now" Aaron told him walking off.

Jaden couldn't believe that someone turned him down for a duel, he was about to run after him when Alexis grabbed his arm.

"Look, this kid is different; I found his file. Thanks to Chazz for hacking the school computer I found some information. It says that he only duels when he wants to, if someone he doesn't know wants him to duel he'll usually say no." Alexis told him releasing his arm.

"Well then I guess I'll just have to become his friend" Jaden said.

The group then made their way to their dorms for the welcome feast.


	3. Chapter 2

Aaron finished his dinner and went to his room to unpack. He was able to get a single person room which was nice for him. Aaron packed the basic essentials for college life; he brought a mini fridge, a new laptop (a gift from Orwin), some books and charts (also from Orwin), as well as a few other things which Aaron put in the closet. Just as he started hanging a few charts and diagrams that Orwin had given him, Hassleberry walked in to the room and said, "Hey there soldier! Need a hand with those?"

"I got it" Aaron said as he continued hanging the charts.

"What is that?" Hassleberry asked pointing to a diagram of The Seal of Orichalcos.

"Nothing that concerns you, now do you need anything or not?" Aaron asked with a stern tone as he finished hanging the last chart.

"Just relax there, soldier" Hassleberry said walking to the door, when he noticed the stone sitting on Aaron's desk. Hassleberry instinctively picked it up to examine it when Aaron slugged him in the gut and took the stone back.

"Get out now!" Aaron shouted clenching the stone in his hand. Hassleberry ran out of the room fearing Aaron's fury. Aaron looked down at the Orichalcos fragment and saw it give off a small glow. Aaron put it back on the desk and got ready for bed.


	4. Chapter 3

Weeks passed and Aaron still had not dueled anyone. Students were starting to grow more and more curious of Aaron's deck. There were several theories of his deck floating around the campus. Some thought he used a bug deck, others thought he had a deck of water monsters, and some even thought he had a deck centered around Kuriboh. Some students had tried to break in to Aaron's room to get a look at his deck, but Aaron had set small traps for anyone who tried to steal it. Aaron watched a lot of the duels at the schools, but he seemed to pay more attention to the cards than the actual duel.

Aaron did exceptionally well in his classes, and he earned respect from several students in his class. Jaden was persistent to get to duel Aaron; he had invited Aaron to hang out with him and his friends. Hassleberry was a little reluctant to let Aaron hang out with them after the confrontation, but he allowed it. Blair and Alexis were impressed with Aaron's knowledge of cards and their effects. Aaron rarely talked in the group, but Alexis and Blair always seemed to get him to talk to them. Aaron seemed to spend a lot of time in his dorm, especially when Jaden and his friends started focusing a lot on Aaron.

"Well I found out that his ace card is Emes the Infinity" Alexis told Jaden.

"At least you got something out of him, I can barely get him to say hi" Jaden said.

One day after class, Aaron was called down to the Chancellor's office. Aaron went down to the office; the chancellor offered Aaron a seat, but he just stood there.

Chancellor Sheppard began, "Aaron I've heard that you haven't been dueling. Is this true?"

"Yes." Aaron responded with a stern look on his face.

"Well I'm afraid if you don't duel someone then I'll have to kick you out of school" the Chancellor finished.

Aaron nodded his head in understanding, and walked out of the room. Jaden, Alexis, Blair, and Hassleberry were waiting outside.

"What did he want?" Jaden asked.

Aaron didn't respond instead he just ran off looking angry.


	5. Chapter 4

Aaron was sitting on the docks late at night; he had his deck in one hand and the Orichalcos fragment in the other. Just then Jaden walked over; Aaron quickly put the stone back in his pocket.

"So what's wrong? You didn't look too happy when you left the chancellor's office" Jaden said.

"Well the answer will make you happy" Aaron said standing up. "If I don't start dueling then I'll get kicked out, so let's do it. You're someone I can trust enough to duel" Aaron said powering on his duel disk.

"Okay! Let's do it!" Jaden said excitedly powering on his duel disk. The duel began with 4000 lifepoints each.

Aaron started "I draw, next I play a monster in facedown defense position and I play four cards facedown and end my turn."

Jaden said, "My move. I draw, I use polymerization to fusion summon Elemental hero flame wingman. Now Wingman attack his face down."

Aaron interrupted, "I activate two jar of greed trap cards, so I draw two cards from my deck"

The attack continued and Aaron's card flipped over to reveal giant germ which was destroyed by the elemental hero. Jaden took 500 points of damage from its ability and Aaron took 1000 points of damage from wingman's ability.

"I activate giant germ's other ability I can special summon two more giant germs from my deck when you destroy it" Aaron called out.

Jaden continued, "I play defusion and sacrifice elemental hero flame wingman to summon elemental hero Avian and Elemental hero Burstinatrix. I'm not finished there, I tribute Burstinatrix and Avian to summon elemental hero Neos. I play one card facedown and end my turn"

Aaron drew a card and began, "Nice card you got there, but not as nice as mine. I tribute my two germs to summon my ace, Emes the Infinity. I play two cards face down and end my turn."

Jaden drew and started, "I activate my skyscraper field spell. Now my Neos gains 1000 attack points when he attacks Emes. Neos Attack"

Aaron interrupted, "Not so fast I activate mask of weakness which lowers Neos attack by 700, next I activate rush recklessly which boosts Emes attack by 700."

Neos continued his attack and was destroyed by Emes. Jaden's life points fell from 3500 to 3100. Jaden ended his turn, but Emes attack points did not return to normal

"Emes gains 700 attack points when he destroys a monster" Aaron told him as his attack points grew to a total of 3200.

Aaron drew a card, "Emes attack him and finish this."

"I activate negate attack which stops your attack" Jaden called out.

"I play one card face down and end my turn" Aaron said.

Jaden drew a card and said, "I play Oversoul to resurrect my elemental hero neos; Neos take out Emes" Emes was destroyed by Elemental hero Neos thanks to Jaden's skyscraper. Aaron's lifepoints fell from 3000 to 2700. Jaden ended his turn.

Aaron drew a card, "I end my turn" he cringed.

Jaden drew, "Neos attack him directly" Aaron's lifepoints fell from 2700 to 200.

Aaron hadn't noticed but the Orichalcos fragment in his pocket was glowing brighter than ever. Aaron picked it up; at this point it turned in to a ball of green light. It then enveloped Aaron's hand in the green light. When the light dissipated the stone was gone, but Aaron saw a plain ring made purely of the Orichalcos fragment had wrapped itself around his finger. Aaron stared at the ring in awe.

"That was incredible!" Jaden exclaimed.

Just then Aaron heard a voice saying "You have unlocked the power of the Orichalcos, now play the next card you draw and observe this power"

Aaron looked down at his deck and saw it give off the same green light he had seen before. He drew the card and looked at it. It was nothing that he had seen before. He then began his turn.

"I activate call of the haunted to resurrect Emes from my grave, next I activate my two embodiment of epophis trap cards which appear on the field as monsters with 1600 attack and 1800 defense in attack mode. Now I activate Fragment of the Orichalcos; This card is an equip spell that I equip on to Emes the infinity. With this card Emes gains 500 attack and defense and it can not be destroyed by battle or by card effects, damage will be applied normally though." As the equip spell card activated, Emes was encased in armor made of the Orichalcos stones which had begun glowing like Aaron's ring.

"Now I equip Emes with the card United we Stand which boosts Emes attack by 800 for every monster on my field so now Emes gains 2400 attack points bringing him to a total of 5400 attack points. Now Emes attack his Neos."

Aaron felt something course through him as Emes attacked Neos. Jaden's life points fell down to 200.

Aaron continued, "Now Embodiment of Epophis finish him off." Jaden's life points fell down to 0. Jaden then walked over to Aaron to congratulate him.

"Incredible duel! And what a comeback" Jaden exclaimed beaming at Aaron. "So where'd you get that Orichocolate frag bomb card?" Jaden asked.

"It's called Fragment of the Orichalcos. This ring gave me the card, it's like it was talking to me. When that rock was glowing, it turned in to this ring, and the ring said something about unlocking its power. I heard stories of how after Yugi Muto destroyed the seal the power was not destroyed, but fragmented; I guess this is part of that power." Aaron told him.

"That card has a lot of power" Jaden said.

"That card comes from power that used to take souls, even though it's only a fragment it still has a lot of power." Aaron told him

"Just try to have more fun dueling" Jaden said smiling and changing the subject.

The two parted ways and went back to their dorms for the night. The ring had started whispering to Aaron again as he was walking "The power to take souls has been lost, but that feeling of your Emes attacking was part of this power. When equipped to a monster you and that monster share a bond, what he feels you feel, and what you feel he feels, that card will link your souls."

"So if Emes gets hurt I get hurt?" Aaron asked the ring.

"Yes, if you lose however you will not lose your soul, but you could be injured." The ring told him.

Aaron made his way back to the dorm thinking about what the ring said. Aaron got ready for bed and quickly fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 5

The next day the whole school was abuzz ever since they found out that Aaron dueled. After class, Alexis walked over to Aaron and challenged him to a duel. Aaron accepted knowing that he had to say yes to her since she knew that he dueled Jaden.

Alexis began by drawing a card, "I play Machine Angel Ritual and tribute two dunames dark witches from my hand to summon Cyber Angel Dakini. I play a card face down and end my turn."

Aaron drew a card, "I summon hydrogeddon in attack mode. I play three cards facedown and end my turn."

Alexis drew a card, "I play harpies feather duster which destroys all of your spell and traps on your field."

Aaron called out, "Not so fast I activate Judgement of Anubis; by discarding a card from my hand I can negate your feather duster and I can destroy a monster on your field and deal damage equal to its attack. I destroy your Cyber Angel Dakini and you take 2800 damage."

Alexis cringed as her lifepoints fell down to 1200 and continued her turn, "I summon cyber tutu in attack mode, and since it has less attack points then hydrogeddon I can attack you directly." Aaron's lifepoints fell down to 3000 and Alexis ended her turn.

Aaron drew a card "I set a card facedown, now Hydrogeddon attack cyber tutu"

Alexis interrupted "I activate enchanted Javelin so I gain 1600 life points"

Aaron continued as Alexis's life points were at 2200, "With Hydrogeddon's ability I summon another Hydrogeddon from my deck. Hydrogeddon attack her directly." Alexis' lifepoints fell to 600 after Aaron ended his turn.

Alexis drew a card, "I play a monster in face down defense position and end my turn."

Aaron drew a card, "Hydrogeddon attack her facedown" The card flipped over to reveal marshmallon. Its effect prevented it from being destroyed and Aaron's lifepoints fell to 2000 after its flip effect kicked in. Aaron then ended his turn.

Alexis drew a card and ended her turn. Aaron and Alexis did this for two more turns.

Alexis drew a card, "Finally something good. I play polymerization to fuse blade skater and etoile cyber from my hand to summon cyber blader. Now since you have two monsters on your field Cyber Blader's attack doubles. I also activate malevolent nuzzler which boosts Cyber Blader's attack by 700. Now Cyber Blader attack his Hydrogeddon"

Aaron revealed a facedown, "I play negate attack to stop this from happening."

Alexis ended her turn after she played a card face down.

Aaron drew his card as his ring began glowing. "I tribute my Hydrogeddons to summon Emes the Infinity. Next I play Fragment of the Orichalcos on to Emes. Now your double attack is gone. Emes attack Cyber Blader."

Alexis revealed her face down, "I activate rush recklessly to boost cyber blader's attack by 700 points."

Aaron's Emes remained intact but his lifepoints fell from 2000 to 1500. Aaron actually felt something hit him and his arm felt sore. Aaron ended his turn feeling pain in his arm. Alexis drew a card, frowned, and ended her turn.

Aaron began his turn, as he drew a card he then clenched his shoulder in pain.

"Are you okay?" Alexis asked.

"I'll be fine" Aaron told her starting his turn, "First I play book of Taiyou to move Marshmallon in to face up attack position. Now Emes the infinity, finish her off."

The duel ended; Aaron was still clutching his shoulder. Alexis walked over to check on him, but Aaron kept telling her that he was fine. Aaron now knew what the ring was talking about when it said he would feel what the equipped monster would feel.


	7. Chapter 6

Days passed and Aaron had dueled everyone in Jaden's social circle (Chazz, Blair, Alexis, Hassleberry, Syrus, Aster Phoenix, and Atticus), and of course he used the Fragment of the Orichalcos. Each time the crowd of students watching seemed to grow larger, Aaron must have attracted some attention with his dueling. Aaron was hurting after all of the dueling. It was Thursday night and he was laying in his bed, he had taken a few aspirin to try and relieve the pain from the dueling that he had undergone. Aaron was lying on his bed trying to relax when a piece of paper was slid under his door. Aaron walked over to pick it up. He read it to himself:

 _You have been invited to one of the school's best duel parties of the year. Come to the Obelisk Blue boys dorm on Saturday at 7:00 P.M. to duel and have a good time. There will be food and fun, you are welcome to bring a guest._

Aaron just then received a message on his computer from Alexis asking if he got an invite; Aaron responded yes, and then everyone else did the same thing. Aaron decided that he would go to the party since they would all be going and it would be better than lying in his bed all night doing nothing.

 **I know this chapter was short and so are some of the others. I'm sorry if that irritates you, but that's the writing style for most of my stories.**


	8. Chapter 7

Aaron put on a black collared shirt followed by white dress pants and dress shoes; he even combed his hair. Aaron never wore his school uniform, and he knew that he had to look nice for an Obelisk Blue party, so he changed his outfit. Aaron grabbed his duel disk and got ready to leave. He picked up the ring on his desk, stared at it briefly, then put it on and began walking to the party.

 _Meanwhile in Alexis' dorm…_

Alexis was getting ready for the party as Jasmine and Mindy were helping her with her hair and nails.

"So do you think Jaden will finally ask you out?" Jasmine asked.

"He probably won't he's too dense" Mindy impulsively answered for Alexis.

"I hope he will" Alexis said sighing knowing that he probably wouldn't.

"I'm more worried about Aaron, he's been dueling all week, and after each one he seems to have bruises and cuts all over him. Also girls have been asking me about him all week, I hope he can handle them." Alexis said giggling a little.

"Well he is kinda cute, and a good duelist; why shouldn't those girls want to ask him out?" Jasmine said.

"I agree" Mindy said.

"Yeah, but Aaron is a shy kid, it took a while for him to agree to start dueling more. I feel like he might get overwhelmed by all of this new attention." Alexis told her friends.

"Don't worry Alexis he'll be fine" her friends reassured her. Alexis then finished getting ready and started heading to the party, when Blair showed up at the door and asked if they wanted to walk together. The group of girls then started walking to the party.


	9. Chapter 8

Most of the school seemed to be at the party. Everyone was talking and enjoying the food. Aaron said hi to Alexis and Blair as well as Jaden, Chazz, and Hassleberry. A few girls from the Obelisk blue girls dorm were clustered, and as Alexis thought, they were talking about Aaron. A few of them even had walked over to Aaron and started talking to him.

Then an Obelisk Blue boy walked on to the stage and said, "Let's get the dueling underway!" Just as he finished his announcement duel disks were powering on and cards were being drawn. Some of the Obelisk Blue girls challenged Aaron and he accepted; he defeated them one by one. He resisted using the Fragment of the Orichalcos to win because he did not want to worsen his injuries. After winning some duels Aaron made his way to a corner, so that he could watch a few duels and not be disturbed.

As Aaron was watching some duels a group of Obelisk Blue boys walked over to him.

"Duel me" one of them commanded Aaron.

Aaron hated when people tried to force him to duel, "No" he said firmly clenching his fist.

Just then two of his goons grabbed Aaron and had him against the wall. The one boy punched Aaron in the gut and saw his ring. He plucked it off of Aaron's finger and held it in his hand.

"So the tough guy likes jewelry" the boy said taunting Aaron by holding the ring over Aaron's head. The boy then decided to put the ring on, "So guys do I look pretty" he asked his goons who laughed.

"I wouldn't do that" Aaron warned them. Just as Aaron said that, the ring started glowing.

Aaron heard the ring call out, "Those who are not worthy shall be punished" The boy who had the ring was hit with a green light, he collapsed to the ground and dropped the ring. The goons dropped Aaron and went over to their leader to help him. Aaron picked up his ring and put it back on saying, "I told you to give it back." Aaron said walking away. Everyone had stopped dueling to see what had happened. Aaron ran out of the party only to be confronted by the Obelisk Blue boys who cornered him earlier.

Alexis had seen what happened and she grabbed Jaden and Blair and attempted to get Hassleberry who was too busy devouring the food table. A few Obelisk blue girls who had been flirting with Aaron ran outside to see him.

"I'm not asking you this time, let's duel" The Obelisk Blue boy said with a fire in his eyes.

Aaron knew that he could not back down, so he powered on his duel disk and the duel began with 4000 life points each.


	10. Chapter 9

The Obelisk Blue started by drawing a card, "I play sealed gold coffer which allows me to banish a card from my deck and add it to my hand in two turns. Next, I play future fusion to summon blue eyes ultimate dragon in two turns. I summon Gil Garth in attack mode and I play one card face down and end my turn."

Aaron drew his card, "I play four cards face down and end my turn."

The Obelisk Blue boy drew a card, "Gil Garth attack"

"I activate embodiment of epophis and summon it in face up defense mode, so your attack will do nothing." Aaron called out and the attack stopped. The Obelisk boy played a card facedown and ended his turn.

Aaron knew that next turn his blue eyes ultimate would come out as he drew his card. "I activate another embodiment of epophis. Next, I tribute them to summon Emes the Infinity. I play Fragment of the Orichalcos and equip it on to Emes. Now Emes destroy Gil Garth."

Emes destroyed Gil Garth, but he took no damage as the boy smirked discarding a Kuriboh from his hand.

The Obelisk broke in to a grin as he drew his card and the card from his sealed gold coffer also went to his hand. Then before Aaron knew it Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon materialized in front of him. "Now the real fun begins, I play Dragon's Mirror and banish three Blue eyes white dragons from my graveyard to summon another blue eyes Ultimate dragon. Blue eyes Ultimate attack his Emes.

Aaron panicked, "I activate my facedown mirror force which will destroy your dragons."

The boy laughed, "How dumb do I look, I activate seven tools of the bandit and pay one thousand lifepoints to negate that pitiful maneuver. Now Blue eyes continue your attack."

They boys lifepoints fell to 3000 while Aaron's Emes took 3000 points of damage from the brutal dragons. Aaron collapsed on the ground, but he got up covered in cuts and bruises clutching his chest. The boy ended his turn, as Aaron's lifepoints fell down to 1000 and he was in pain.

Aaron drew a card, "I change Emes to defense mode and play a card face down" he said falling down.

The Obelisk boy drew a card, "Pathetic, I activate my face down, Dragon's rage which allows my dragons to deal damage to monsters in defense mode. Now Blue eyes ultimate finish this loser off."

Aaron saw the light, but he quickly revealed the card he set earlier, "I activate Magic Cylinder and deal you damage equal to your Blue Eyes Ultimate's attack points."

The Obelisk boy had lost and as the duel ended Aaron collapsed to the ground and passed out.


	11. Chapter 10

Aaron woke up, he was in the infirmary.

"Look who's awake" Jaden said smiling. "Give him a little space" Alexis said pulling him back.

"What happened?" Aaron asked.

"You won the duel" Jaden said smiling. "Yeah and after winning you collapsed on the ground covered in cuts and bruises. You really scared us." Blair said. Aaron tried to lift his arm, but he was in too much pain. He was covered in bandages; especially his chest where there seemed to be a large gash. He also realized that he was wearing his pajamas.

Alexis told him, "Nurse Fontaine had you lying there in your boxers, so Blair and I went in to your room to grab you something to wear." Blair and Alexis giggled a little. Aaron looked around the room his Duel disk and clothes were sitting on a chair in the corner, they had several tears in them. He noticed he didn't have his ring on his finger, he was about to panic, but Jaden handed it to him and said, "Don't worry I kept it safe for you." Aaron slid the ring on his finger and relaxed.

Just then Nurse Fontaine walked in to the room, "Don't even think about leaving, you're pretty banged up. Right now you need to rest and recover; that means no dueling for a while." She told him sternly. Aaron frowned, but he was in no position to argue. Aaron tried to stand up, but he fell back on to the bed. Nurse Fontaine told everyone to leave, and as soon as they left Aaron fell asleep. The ring had definitely done some damage to Aaron, as he groaned in his sleep.

Days passed and Nurse Fontaine had Aaron on several pain killers and did not let him stand up. Aaron couldn't argue, he was in too much pain to stand up. Blair brought Aaron's school work to him, which Aaron thanked her for. Blair noticed that Aaron wasn't eating his food, so Blair took it upon herself to take care of him.

Aaron was sitting up in his bed; Jaden and everyone else were sitting in chairs nearby.

"Open up, you need to eat" Blair said forcing a spoonful of soup in to his mouth. Aaron obeyed knowing that if he didn't Blair would pry his jaw open. The others laughed a little as she fed Aaron. Jaden was just glad that her attention wasn't on him. Aaron would talk with all of them, and then they would leave to go back to their dorms.

Aaron was recovering steadily; he could stand up and move around, but not for long periods of time. Most of his wounds had healed, and the bandages had been removed. Nurse Fontaine even cleared him to rest in his room as long as someone would check up on him. Aaron already knew that Blair wouldn't even have to be asked to check in on him.


	12. Chapter 11

Aaron was laying in his bed, staring at the ring in his hand. He wondered if its power was worth it to him. As Aaron was thinking about the ring, he heard a knock at his door. He quickly slid the ring back on his finger as Alexis walked in to the room.

"Feeling better?" Alexis asked him.

"Yeah, I'm doing okay. I'm caught up on all of my school work and I can move around more." Aaron told her.

"That's good." She said smiling.

"I can even duel now." Aaron said.

"Just be careful" Alexis told him with a look of worry in her eye.

"Do you know anything about that Obelisk that I dueled?" Aaron asked with a twinge of revenge in his eyes.

"His name is Blake. He is the top first year in the school. I'm actually surprised that you won, but don't go getting yourself in to trouble with him." Alexis said as she saw the look in Aaron's eye. Aaron frowned knowing that she was right, but Blake disrespected him and Aaron hated that. Alexis left as Aaron stared at the ring in his hand; even though it caused him harm, it saved him from losing several duels.


	13. Chapter 12

Blake pounded his fist on his desk in anger. He was in his room, and he was still mad that Aaron beat him.

"How could I have lost to that filthy Ra." He screamed. His friends were also in the room; they tried to calm him with no success. Blake had been like this ever since Aaron beat him, and he wouldn't stop until he had his revenge. Blake continued reworking his deck trying to devise the perfect strategy to exact his revenge on Aaron. Blake's friends left not wanting to hear him lash out anymore.

Blake was now alone, still angry, but not as violent as before as he took a seat at his desk and stared at his deck; it was perfect and yet he still lost to Aaron. At that moment, a man walked in to his room; he wore a black trench coat, a black fedora, and a plain silver mask only with slits for his eyes.

"Angry?" He asked sarcastically.

"What do you want?" Blake sneered.

"Only to help you; I know that you want revenge on that boy." He said calmly.

"So how are you going to help me?" Blake asked curiously. The man reached in to his pocket and pulled out a card and a silver bracelet with a black stone in the middle; he handed them to Blake.

"Use this card to crush your enemies, and use the bracelet to draw out the power of the shadow games." The man said.

"Sh-shadow games? Those things are dangerous. Kids lose their souls over that kind of stuff." Blake said cringing.

"I just thought you wanted to beat that little pest. The card and the bracelet will help you do that and so much more. No enemy shall stand before you; with these items you can rule this pathetic island and then the world." The man said.

"What's in it for you?" Blake asked.

"Nothing for me. I'm doing all of this for you." He said laying the items on his desk. Blake was about to ask the man his name, but before he could, he was gone. Blake looked at the card; it seemed to glow with a black aura; it seemed to be calling out to him. Blake then slipped the bracelet on his arm; it seemed to latch on. Blake smiled to himself knowing that he would finally have his revenge on Aaron.


	14. Chapter 13

It was late at night, Aaron was in his room trying to sleep; he had spent the day dueling and not using his ring. Aaron won most of his duels, and he enjoyed himself as he took it easy and had fun; he knew that he did not have to win every duel using the power of the ring.

Aaron was having trouble falling asleep; his ring was sitting on his desk and it was glowing like it was trying to warn him about something. Just then, Aaron received a message on his PDA, it was a message from Blake telling him to meet him by the lake. Aaron knew that Blake would try something, but he reluctantly got dressed, grabbed his duel disk and slid the ring on his finger. As Aaron made his way to the lake, the ring seemed to be glowing brighter and brighter; once he got to the lake the ring stopped glowing. Blake was standing by the lake, staring directly at Aaron.

"Let's duel." He shouted as he powered on his duel disk. Aaron felt like something was off, but he powered on his duel disk knowing that he had no other options. As soon as his duel disk powered on, Blake screamed in agony as the bracelet on his arm glowed and a dark vortex surrounded him. When the vortex cleared, Blake was smiling maniacally and several black shards seemed to be coming out of the bracelet and encasing his arm in a crystalline armor.

The duel began with 4000 lifepoints each.

"I'll go first!" Blake shouted. As he drew his card, a wave of energy seemed to flow out of him; Aaron cringed when it hit him.

Blake continued, "Now that the shadow game has begun let's get started." He said. Aaron cringed when he heard that it was a shadow game; he knew that he would have to use his ring for this duel. Aaron looked at his finger, and his ring seemed to acknowledge the situation as it gave off a small glow.

Blake continued with his turn, "I summon Kaibaman in attack mode. Next, I tribute Kaibaman and special summon Blue eyes white dragon from my hand. Now I play Future Fusion and send two Blue-Eyes White Dragons and a King of the Swamp from my deck to the graveyard. Finally, I play one card facedown and end my turn."

Aaron cringed seeing the legendary dragon that quickly; he drew his card and frowned at his hand. "I summon a monster in facedown defense mode, and I play three cards facedown. I end my turn."

Blake drew a card and began speaking, "My move, I summon Luster Dragon in attack mode."

Aaron interrupted, "I activate Trap Hole and destroy your dragon."

Blake continued, "That won't help you much. Blue-Eyes attack his facedown, but first I activate Dragon's Rage so that my Blue-Eyes can deal you piercing damage."

Aaron smiled, "I activate Enchanted Javelin, so I gain life points equal to your Blue-Eyes' attack." He said as his life points rose to 7000. The attack continued and the facedown revealed Marshmallon; Aaron cringed as his lifepoints fell to 4500. Aaron wasn't too upset because Marshmallon's effect kicked in and Blake lost 1000 life points. Blake cringed as his lifepoints fell to 3000, and he ended his turn. The crystals on his arm seemed to be growing, and he seemed to be getting stronger with each passing turn. Aaron drew a card and started his turn; the ring on his finger was glowing rapidly now.

"I activate my facedown, Stronghold. It is summoned in face up defense position as a monster with 2000 defense, but it won't be there for long. I tribute Marshmallon and Stronghold and summon Emes the Infinity in face up attack mode. Now I play Fragment of the Orichalcos and equip it on to Emes. Now Emes has 3000 attack points and he and the fragment of the Orichalcos can't be destroyed at all. Now Emes attack his Blue-Eyes, and thanks to my fragment, Emes won't be destroyed." Aaron said as he watched the dragon being shattered. Emes attack points rose to 3700 and Aaron ended his turn after playing a card facedown.

The crystals on Blake's arm continued spreading, they were covering the left side of his face by the time he drew a card. Once he drew his card, his Future Fusion card activated and his Blue-Eyes Ultimate dragon materialized.

Blake laughed maniacally as he began his turn. "This isn't the same old dragon you saw before. I shall now demonstrate the full extent of my new power to you. I play Infusion of the Night, with this card I tribute Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and draw out the power of the night by summoning Night-Eyes Ultimate Silver Moonlight Dragon."

At that moment, the moon actually seemed to be coming closer to them. A blinding light was released from the moon and where Blake's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon stood was now a silver dragon with five heads, and eyes that resembled the crystals on Blake's arm. The dragon was truly incredible; it had 5000 attack and 5000 defense. Aaron's ring flashed repeatedly as the dragon roared.

Blake continued, "This is my new power, and it doesn't stop there. For each card in my hand my dragon gains 300 attack points so he now has 5600 attack points. Night-Eyes Ultimate Silver Moonlight Dragon attack Emes the Infinity." Blake ended his turn. Aaron cringed as his lifepoints fell to 2600 and he clutched his shoulder in searing pain; somehow the pain felt worse than it usually did. Aaron drew a card and played it facedown hoping that it might help him.

Blake drew his card; the crystals now covered his whole chest. "I play Rush Recklessly to boost my dragon's attack by 700 for this turn only. Now to make sure you don't get up, Night-Eyes attack Emes with all your might."

Aaron activated his facedown out of desperation, "I activate Negate Attack and end this battle phase." Aaron said with a sigh of relief. Blake scowled as he ended his turn. Aaron's ring was glowing even brighter than before; Aaron looked down, and the color changed from green to yellow.

The ring then began speaking, "In desperate times greater power can be revealed. Draw your next card and accept this power, but be warned of the danger."

Aaron looked at his deck; the top card was glowing like his ring. Aaron drew the card; he had never seen one like it. "I play Sword of the Orichalcos and equip it on to Emes the Infinity. For every 100 lifepoints I give up Emes gains 200 attack points for this turn only." At that moment, a sword made purely of the Orichalcos stones was placed in Emes hands.

Aaron continued, "I give up 2500 lifepoints to give Emes a 5000 attack point boost." Emes turned around and faced Aaron; he held up the sword which began glowing. Aaron felt exhausted and fatigued as light was leaving his body and being channeled in to the sword.

"Emes finish him off" Aaron said with his remaining bit of energy. Blake's lifepoints fell to zero, and as soon as they did a portal opened beneath his feet and sucked him in, the penalty for losing a shadow game. Aaron's ring stopped glowing and returned to a green color. Aaron collapsed to the ground and passed out from using the power of the Orichalcos and dueling in a shadow game; his body could'nt take the stress that he put on it during the duel.


	15. Chapter 14

Aaron woke up in a familiar setting, the infirmary. Aaron tried to sit up, but he was too weak as he fell back on to the bed groaning. Aaron looked around, and he saw Alexis, Blair, Hassleberry, and Nurse Fontaine walk over to him.

"Looks like you got yourself in trouble again." Alexis sighed.

"Where's Jaden?" Aaron asked looking around.

"He has detention, and we might have all been there waiting for him if someone could keep watch." Alexis said nudging Hassleberry. At that moment, Nurse Fontaine pushed a few buttons on a remote and Aaron felt himself being sat up. Aaron thanked her as he tried to get comfortable; He noticed that he was wearing his pajamas.

"So what happened exactly, all I remember is winning the duel and Blake being taken to the shadow realm. And if you were curious he initiated the shadow game, not me." Aaron said.

"Well, Hassleberry was supposed to be keeping an eye on you to make sure that this didn't happen. According to Nurse Fontaine, some Obelisk Blue girls found you while they were walking to class. They brought you to the infirmary and saw that you're clothes were torn, so they went to your dorm and brought over your pajamas and changed you in to them." Alexis said.

Aaron noticed the bandages on his arms and torso, and he felt a large amount of pain as he tried to move around. Aaron passed out, still exhausted from the duel.

"Let's go so he can rest." Alexis said. The others nodded and followed, but not before Blair adjusted his bed to a laying position. Aaron mumbled "Thank you", and he let out a small groan as Blair left.


	16. Chapter 15

Aaron woke up, still in the infirmary; he was still in pain as he tried to sit himself up with no success. Nurse Fontaine walked over to him and adjusted his bed for him.

"There's a small crowd of girls here to see you. I don't know how long I can hold them back; they are really eager to see you." She said motioning to the door.

"Send them in." Aaron said reluctantly. Just as Aaron said that, the door swung open, and he was swarmed by Obelisk Blue girls. They were all asking if he was okay or if they could do anything for him. Aaron groaned regretting his decision to let them in. Nurse Fontaine saw the look on his face and tried to get rid of them with no success.

Minutes later, Nurse Fontaine sat a tray of food in front of Aaron. Aaron reached for the utensils on the tray, but his hindered strength was no match for the girls who quickly intercepted his hands.

"Just relax, we'll help you." They said giggling. Aaron knew that he was too weak to fend them off and muttered a few curses under his breath. One of the girls then began cutting up the food and feeding it to Aaron; Aaron accepted the food from the girls because he was hungry and because it didn't look like they would be leaving anytime soon.

This continued for a few weeks, and the girls didn't stop there; they helped Aaron with everything including getting dressed, brushing his teeth, and even showering. Aaron asked Nurse Fontaine if they were allowed to do this, and as long as she was in proximity they were; in fact she actually liked it because it meant less work for her.

Aaron had finally been cleared to go back to class as well as his room. Aaron was glad to have his privacy back as he laid in his bed. As the door swung open, Aaron let out a loud groan, but it was only Alexis.

"Sorry, I thought you were one of those Obelisk Girls" Aaron said.

"I heard about them." Alexis said giggling.

"They gave me no privacy, I couldn't stand up without one of them grabbing my arm and asking where I was going." Aaron told her.

"They were just trying to help." Alexis said.

"I know, but I'm used to being independent." Aaron said.

Alexis finished talking to Aaron and left the room. She was concerned about the kind of trouble that ring was getting him in to; she knew that he was a good duelist, but that ring was hurting him.

Aaron looked at his ring; it had caused him a lot of pain, but it also saved his life. It clearly had more power in it that he would need. He thought about the card that Blake played, "Infusion of the Night." That card was not ordinary, and it probably meant that there was a dark force at work.


	17. Chapter 16

Aaron woke up at 3:00 A.M., he got out of his bed, and put on a t-shirt and shorts; he grabbed his duel disk and ring and went outside. Aaron began jogging, once he found a steady pace he kept it.

"I can't keep getting injured like this. I need to get stronger." Aaron said to himself as he continued running; Aaron was still weak from his previous injuries, but he refused to give in to the pain. Aaron jogged all the way around the lake twice and then went back to his dorm; he was not finished with his work out yet. Aaron took a shower and relaxed as the water washed over him.

Aaron made his shower quick and got dressed again as he went back outside. Aaron walked to the cliffs near the Slifer Red dorm. Aaron began climbing up and down the cliffs trying to strengthen his arms. Once Aaron finished climbing, he walked to the harbor; Aaron powered on his duel disk and began drawing cards and playing them.

Later, Jaden woke up and let out a loud yawn as he got dressed and went outside to stand on the balcony. He saw Aaron drawing cards and summoning monsters; instinctively he went over to see what Aaron was up to.

"Hey Aaron, what are you up to?" Jaden asked smiling.

Aaron looked at Jaden; Aaron was out of breath with several cuts and bruises all over his body.

"Duel me, right here, right now." Aaron said glaring at Jaden.

"Are you sure? You look pretty banged up" Jaden said expressing his concern.

"Duel me!" Aaron shouted shuffling his deck. Jaden instinctively powered on his duel disk and the duel began with 4000 life points each.

Jaden started, "I play Polymerization and fusion summon Elemental Hero Thunder Giant with Elemental Clayman and Elemental Sparkman from my hand. Next, I play Miracle Fusion and banish Sparkman and Clayman to summon another Thunder Giant. I end my turn.

Aaron began, "I play Brain Control, and by paying 800 life points I can take control of one of your Thunder Giants. Now, Thunder Giant, attack the other Thunder Giant and destroy each other. I play one monster in facedown defense position and one card facedown. I end my turn."

Jaden began his turn "I play two cards facedown and call it a turn." Jaden finished.

Aaron drew his card "I summon a monster in facedown defense position and I play one card facedown."

Jaden chuckled, "Your moves are going stale. I play Mystical Space Typhoon and destroy one of your facedowns and end my turn." Aaron's Embodiment of Epophis card was revealed and then shattered.

Aaron drew his card, "I summon Emes the Infinity and give him the power of Fragment of the Orichalcos. Now Emes attack him directly." Emes began rushing at Jaden, his attack now at 3000 points thanks to the Fragment of the Orichalcos.

Jaden interrupted, "I activate A Hero Emerges and since I only have one card in my hand I summon Elemental Hero Neos." Aaron continued his attack only to be interrupted again. "I activate Draining Shield and gain life points equal to the attack of your Emes and stop your attack." Jaden smiled as his life points rose from 4000 to 7000. Aaron ended his turn.

Jaden drew a card and smiled, "I play Skyscraper. Now, Neos attack Emes." Aaron cringed as his life points fell to 2700; He also saw a newly opened wound on his arm. Jaden ended his turn and Aaron drew a card with blood dripping from his arm.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Jaden asked staring at the open wound.

"I'm fine, just duel." Aaron retaliated trying to mask the pain that he was in. "Emes attack that pitiful excuse for an Elemental Hero." The monster was quickly destroyed and Emes attack rose to 3700 and Jaden's life points fell from 7000 to 6500.

Aaron ended his turn and Jaden drew a card. "I play Pot of Greed and draw two cards. I play Monster Reborn and bring back my Neos, next I play Axe of Despair and give Neos 1000 more attack points. Neos attack his Emes again." After Aaron and Emes took the powerful attack, Jaden ended his turn. Aaron cringed as his life points fell from 2700 to 1900.

Aaron drew his card, his ring was glowing brightly. "Emes destroy that Hero again." Jaden's life points fell from 6500 to 6300 and Emes attack rose to 4200. Aaron played a card facedown and ended his turn. Jaden drew a card and ended his turn.

Aaron drew a card. "I play Sword of the Orichalcos and sacrifice 1800 life points to give Emes a 3600 attack point boost." Emes attack rose from 4200 to 7800. "Emes finish him off!" Aaron shouted as he felt the energy being drained out of him. Jaden cringed as his life points fell from 6300 to 0.

After the duel ended, Aaron collapsed to the ground clutching his chest. Jaden asked if Aaron was okay. Aaron told him that he was fine as he stood up covered in cuts and bruises. Jaden tried to help Aaron back to his dorm, but Aaron pushed him back telling him that he was fine.

As Aaron made his way back to the dorm, his ring began speaking to him. "It is not your body that is weak it is your will. You need to fight the pain."

"How?" Aaron asked.

"You need to show your determination by resisting the pain. Just remember you are in control of the duel and your body." The ring said. Aaron nodded his head in acknowledgement and continued walking back to his dorm. Once Aaron got to his room, he took a shower and cleaned his wounds. Aaron then changed in to his pajamas and passed out in his bed.


	18. Chapter 17

Aaron was on the edge of a cliff dueling someone; they were winning. Aaron was clutching his chest in a great deal of pain. Aaron looked at the ring which was glowing; it immediately stopped glowing, turned gray and shattered.

"Give up kid. Your ring is gone, your power is gone, you have nothing." The figure said.

Aaron looked at his hand and his field; Emes was standing there looking back at him. The figure had three monsters all with 6000 attack.

"I won't give up yet!" Aaron shouted as he drew a card. "I…" Aaron looked at his hand; none of these cards were going to help him win.

"What's the matter kid? Ready to give up?" The figure asked laughing maniacally.

"I won't give up, I play a card facedown and call it a turn." Aaron retaliated cringing at the pain he was in.

The man laughed, "Pathetic, I play Mystical Space Typhoon and destroy your face down. Now, finish him off, my monsters." Aaron defended himself against the first attack by discarding a Kuriboh, but he was no match for the other two monsters. Aaron looked at his duel disk; his life points did not hit zero, instead he was enveloped by a green light.

A voice spoke to him "Your will to keep fighting is impressive. You have passed the test; now accept your greater power." Aaron screamed as he was blasted by the green light; he instantly woke up clutching his chest.

"It was all a dream." He said to himself. Aaron looked at his hand; the ring was still there, and it was speaking.

"Your dream was a test, and you have passed. Call upon the power of the Orichalcos and witness it's greatness." It said. Aaron got out of bed and got dressed; it was Saturday evening. Aaron walked to the lake and stared at his ring.

Aaron held the hand with his ring on it up to the sky, "I call upon the power of the Orichalcos!" he shouted. At that moment, a green light shot down from the sky and hit Aaron. Aaron looked at his reflection in the lake; he was covered in armor made of the Orichalcos stones from his chest down to his feet. His right eye was covered with an Orichalcos stone; it glowed like his ring.

"Play a card to summon it, but be warned, it as well as the armor will drain more of your energy the longer you have it out. The armor will not help during a duel, but the new threats that you will face may not always be settled in a duel." The ring told him. Aaron played his Sword of the Orichalcos card, and instantly the blade materialized in his hand. Aaron swung the blade and felt its power course through him. Aaron remembered what the ring said about the armor draining his energy and quickly ended the transformation.

"This power needs to be used sparingly." Aaron said to himself as he made his way back to the dorm.


	19. Chapter 18

A Slifer Red boy was sitting in his dorm staring at his deck.

"If I can't win some duels I'm going to get kicked out of school." He said to himself. He threw his deck at the wall in anger. Shockingly it did not hit the wall, someone caught it.

"You need more respect for your cards." The silver masked figure said looking through the deck. "A bug deck, very nice choice, their effects make up for their weak attacks. Use this." He said pulling a deck from his pocket and tossing it to the boy along with a silver bracelet with a black stone in the middle.

"Why are you giving this to me?" The boy asked.

"I want to make sure you don't get kicked out of school. Also, I want you to defeat the Ra Yellow known as Aaron." He said. The boy was about to ask more questions, but before he could the figure vanished.

Aaron was standing outside of the school waiting for Alexis, so that they could duel. Instead a Slifer Red boy ran up to Aaron and challenged him to a duel. Aaron saw the familiar looking bracelet on his arm and accepted the challenge knowing that he had no choice in the matter.

As soon as the duel began with 4000 life points each, a crowd had already started to form.

Alexis ran outside when she saw Aaron drawing his cards. "Aaron, why are you dueling this guy?" Alexis asked.

"He's using the power of the shadow games. I think he's working for someone and I can't let him hurt anyone." Aaron told her motioning to the bracelet on the boy's arm which had several black crystals growing from it. Alexis had a worried expression on her face, but she knew that she could not stop Aaron from dueling under these circumstances.

The boy began, "I'll start. I summon a monster in facedown defense mode and I play three cards facedown and call it a turn."

Aaron drew his card, "I summon Hydrogeddon. Hydrogeddon attack his facedown." Aaron shouted as the card was revealed to be Cocoon of Evolution and Aaron's life points fell down to 3600. Aaron played two cards facedown and ended his turn.

The boy drew a card. "I summon Petit Moth and I equip my Cocoon of Evolution on to it. Now I activate my Swords of Revealing Light on my field to prevent you from attacking me. That's my turn." The boy finished as the crystals continued growing on to his chest.

Aaron drew a card, "I activate my facedown, Mystical Space Typhoon and target your Swords of Revealing Light." Aaron's card was negated as the boy activated a Magic Jammer card. Aaron played a monster in facedown defense mode and ended his turn.

The boy began his turn, "I play a monster in facedown defense mode and call it a turn."

Aaron started his turn, "I play one monster facedown." Aaron ended his turn.

The boy started his turn, "I tribute my facedown to summon Insect Queen and since the card I tribute was Pinch Hopper I can summon a card from my hand like my other Petit Moth." At that moment, Insect Queen's ability kicked in and it's attack rose from 2200 to 2800. "I tribute my Petit Moth so that my queen can destroy your Hydrogeddon." Aaron fell on to his knee as the boy's bracelet made Aaron feel the sting of the shadow game. Aaron's life points fell from 3600 to 2600. The boy ended his turn and a token was summoned to his field.

Aaron stared at his hand, "I tribute my two facedowns to summon Emes the Infinity in attack mode. Now I give him the power of the Fragment of the Orichalcos."

The boy began his turn as his Swords of Revealing Light was destroyed. "I'm not giving up there, I activate my other Swords of Revealing Light and end my turn." Aaron did nothing for his next three turns as the Swords of Revealing Light card made his attacks useless. The boy smiled each time as he looked at his hand on the turn that his protection had ended. "Time for the real show, I tribute my Petit Moth along with Cocoon of Evolution to summon Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth, but I won't stop there I play Infusion of the Night and tribute my moth to summon Glistening Night Moth. This monster has 4000 attack and defense and a few fun abilities, like all insect monsters besides my moth gain 1000 attack points like my Insect Queen, and my moth's other ability allows my queen to attack without the need for a tribute, so I change my token's position to defense mode. Now, my bugs annihilate this pest."

Aaron cringed as the power of the shadows coupled with the Orichalcos hit him; His life points fell from 2600 to 1000. Aaron drew a card and clutched his chest when he saw his hand. The move he was about to make was very risky, but he had no choice. "I play Sword of the Orichalcos and give it to Emes. I give up 900 life points to boost Emes' attack to 4800. I also play Book of Taiyou to switch your token to attack mode." Aaron sighed as he played his next card. "I play Graceful Dice and if I get a three or higher I can destroy that token and finish this." Aaron said as he threw the die; the die bounced and landed on five. Aaron smiled as he ordered Emes to attack with his attack now at 5300.

The boy interrupted, "I play Waboku to stop your attack."

Aaron cringed, but he then remembered his facedown, "I activate Trap Jammer and stop that Waboku from taking effect." Aaron knew that he had won when he saw Emes destroy the token and a portal open beneath the boy's feet. Aaron noticed the cuts and bruises on his arms and legs, but he forced himself to stand up as Alexis ran over to him.

"Are you okay?" She asked eyeing his injuries.

"Don't worry I'll be fine. What I need to worry about is whoever is handing out those bracelets." Aaron told her as he tried walking, but fell on to his knee.

"Hassleberry, Blair, come help me get Aaron back to his dorm." Alexis said lifting Aaron up and supporting him on her shoulder. Aaron hadn't even noticed Blair and Hassleberry watching the duel, but sure enough they came over and helped Aaron up. Aaron leaned on them for support as they helped him back to his dorm. Once they got back to the dorm, they laid Aaron on his bed where he quickly fell asleep, but not before mumbling a "Thanks."

During the duel, the man with the silver mask had been watching from the roof of the school. "Poor boy, I almost thought he had a chance of winning this time. Perhaps dueling Aaron isn't the answer. Maybe I need to take a more physical approach." He said to himself chuckling as he began devising his latest scheme.


	20. Chapter 19

Aaron woke up late at night to a message on his computer.

 _I know who's handing out the bracelets. Come meet my by the cliffs at the Slifer Red dorm if you want more information._

Aaron tried to trace the message, but it was blocked; Aaron knew that it was most likely a trap, but it was his only lead. Aaron was still injured from his duel earlier in the day, but he mustered up the last of his strength to put on his duel disk and walk out the door. Aaron walked calmly to the meeting place until he started to feel like he was being followed; then he broke in to a sprint until he finally made it to the spot.

"Dang it, I lost him. I guess I'm no recon soldier." Hassleberry sighed to himself as he had been the one trying to keep up with Aaron. He quickly messaged Alexis telling her that he failed and to keep an eye out for Aaron.

The silver masked figure was waiting for Aaron by the cliffs when he arrived. "I see that you decided to show up." He said.

"Something tells me you know more than just who's handing out the bracelets." Aaron said sarcastically. "So I take it you want to duel me." Aaron said pulling out his duel disk.

The man chuckled, "Originally, yes, but I don't need to waste my time on you with a duel. By the way, you can call me Night." He said reaching in to his coat; what he pulled out was a sword made of black stones that resembled the ones in the bracelets.

Aaron responded to the sight of the blade and called upon the power of his ring; he also played the Sword of Orichalcos, so that Aaron could actually defend himself. Night lunged at Aaron, masterfully maneuvering his sword as Aaron attempted to block his attacks with little success; Aaron was too weak to try and fight back, so he just continued trying to block. After receiving a few hits from Night, Aaron found himself standing over the cliff with several large gashes in his armor as well as his chest; Night's sword as well as his skills were incredibly powerful, and Aaron was no match for him in his current state.

"I thought you would put up more of a fight." Night said as he prepared to finish Aaron off. Aaron looked at the blade and then the edge of the cliff that he was barely standing on. Aaron sighed as he jumped; it was a rather painful experience as his fall was not directly in to the water. Aaron fell on several small boulders before finally landing in the water; his armor had protected him, but just barely as it vanished before Aaron passed out in the ice-cold water.

Aaron was drifting in the ocean; he was unconscious, and he had several injuries from his duel earlier in the day and they did not improve with the recent sword fight and falling off a cliff.

"I don't think he'll survive the freezing cold water and his injuries, but I wish I could have finished him off. It would have been more honorable, and I hate loose ends." Night muttered to himself before vanishing.


	21. Chapter 20

Alexis was in Aaron's room with Chazz. Alexis asked Chazz to come along and search for a few clues on what may have happened to Aaron; Chazz was combing through files on Aaron's computer while Alexis searched his room.

"I wonder who Orwin is. Whoever he is, he sure must like Aaron." Alexis said as she flipped through Aaron's books.

"Here, I found his contact info." Chazz said as he copied the file. Even though Chazz had found what they were looking for, Chazz continued searching until he found a file labeled "Prototype Deck Recipes". He was about to copy it, but Alexis hit him on the head.

"Come on, have a little respect for his privacy." Alexis said as they left his room. Alexis got back to her room and called Orwin who picked up the phone curious to see who was calling.

"Hi this is Alexis Rhodes, I'm one of Aaron's friends. I was wondering if you could tell me about him." Alexis asked. Orwin then proceeded to fill her in on Aaron's past and how he met him and mentored him until he came to the academy.

"What about the Seal of Orichalcos?" Alexis asked.

"What did Aaron tell you? He's a better source of knowledge on it than me." Orwin said.

"He may be an expert, but he's not that open about it. All I really know is that he has some ring that has given him some weird powers, but they also seem to be hurting him." Alexis said.

"Well that ring started out as a stone and turned in to the ring. Those cards, the Fragment of the Orichalcos and the Sword of the Orichalcos are pieces of the original Seal of Orichalcos." Orwin then continued filling her in on a few more details and questions about Aaron and the Orichalcos; which included how the seal would link the players and their cards.

"I hope he hasn't gotten himself in to too much trouble." Alexis sighed as they finished up their conversation including the recent shadow games that Aaron had been involved with. "Also, can you keep an eye out for him, he's been missing since last night."

Orwin told her that he would as he hung up.


	22. Chapter 21

Aaron woke up, he was laying in a boat; he had a blanket wrapped around him. He was also wearing someone else's clothes; his duel disk was shockingly intact as was his deck. Aaron was in pain as he tried to struggle to sit himself up.

"Whoa there, just relax kid." A deep voice said resting a hand on Aaron's shoulder. Aaron saw a bucket next to him and grabbed it as he coughed up some water as well as some blood.

"That's right just let it out. We'll get you to a hospital soon." The man said; Aaron later found out that his name was Patrick as they talked a little bit. Aaron was going to tell him what happened to him, but he felt it was best to keep his current situation under wraps. When Patrick asked what happened, Aaron told him that he was boating and crashed in to a cliff where he barely escaped the wreck before he passed out. Patrick asked about the cuts and Aaron told him that he cut himself on the jagged metal of the boat. Aaron and Patrick talked for a little while until Aaron passed out due to exhaustion and his current injuries.

Aaron woke up again and found himself in a hospital room. A nurse came in and explained to him that Patrick brought him here and left because he had to get back to work. Aaron tried to sit up, but found himself too weak to move; the nurse told him to relax otherwise he would worsen his injuries.

"Can you just do one thing for me? Call the Duelist History Museum and ask for Orwin." Aaron asked as he coughed a little. The nurse agreed as Aaron laid down and fell asleep.

Aaron woke up and saw Orwin sitting in a chair nearby. "Glad to see that you're up. As soon as they mentioned your name, I rushed down here." Orwin said. Aaron thanked Orwin as he tried to sit himself up with no success.

"Your friend Alexis was worried about you and she called me a few days ago. She was curious about you, so I told her a few things." Orwin said. Orwin also told Aaron that he called Alexis when he got to the hospital because she was worried about him; she was relieved to know that Aaron was okay. Doctors told Aaron that without Patrick he surely would have died from hypothermia.

Aaron spent a few weeks at the hospital before they sent him back to the academy, but he found himself in the infirmary; Nurse Fontaine wanted to make sure that he was fully healed before allowing him back to his dorm, and with his current history it wouldn't hurt to keep a close eye on him.


	23. Chapter 22

Aaron was sitting in his dorm searching for information on Night. Aaron couldn't find anything about him, and he had been searching for three days straight now. There was a knock at his door.

"Can I come in?" Aaron heard a familiar voice ask.

"If you want." Aaron said rubbing his head in frustration as Alexis walked in along with Blair.

"Still researching that Night guy?" Blair asked.

"Yeah and I found nothing on him." Aaron said pounding his fist on the table. "And by the way, snooping in my room was not okay." Aaron said glaring at Alexis.

"Well you weren't going to tell me about all this stuff, so I took matters in to my own hands." Alexis said irritated with Aaron's secretiveness.

"Maybe because I don't want you to know!" Aaron shouted in anger.

"Fine then, Blair let's go." Alexis said as she grabbed Blair's arm and walked out the door slamming it behind her. Aaron felt bad that he kicked Alexis out like that, but he needed to research Night, and right now she was too much of a distraction.

 _Alexis was talking with Blair…_

"What's his deal? I mean we're only trying to help him." Alexis said with frustration.

"Maybe he just needs some space. I mean it's pretty clear that he hasn't been sleeping that much and he usually prefers to be alone." Blair said.

"I guess you're right, but I'm worried about him. Every time he gets involved in one of those duels, he ends up in the infirmary." Alexis sighed.

"I know you're worried, but we need to let him be alone. He's not in a good state of mind right now. With all of those shadow games, and essentially ending the lives of those kids, he must be dealing with some serious issues. Not to mention all of those injuries that he gets while dueling." Blair said feeling bad for Aaron. Alexis and Blair continued talking for a little until they parted ways and went back to their dorms.

 _Back in Aaron's dorm…_

Aaron lay in his bed trying to sleep with no success. It was another restless night in which he found little to no sleep. Aaron didn't know what to do with himself; he spent his nights preparing new deck recipes and attempting to research Night as well as the Orichalcos and its powers.

Every time Aaron managed to fall asleep, he found himself trapped in a nightmare in which the only way he woke up was death. When Aaron would wake up from his nightmares, he would always clutch his chest, he would find himself breathing heavily, and he would be drenched in sweat. During class, Aaron had trouble staying awake, but he managed to keep himself awake long enough (with the help of several energy drinks) to maintain his decent grades; his teachers noticed the tiredness on his face, and they asked him if they could help, but Aaron just pushed them away.

Aaron spent his time in his room, secluded from everyone else. Aaron kept his blinds closed as he tried to get some form of sleep, but all his sleep brought him was nightmares of shadow games.

Night had been watching Aaron from afar, "This state of fear and suffering is wonderful. It's better than any torture I can inflict upon him." Night chuckled to himself. He loved Aaron suffering; it made his job a lot easier. "Maybe the kid will turn to the dark side."  
Night said to himself holding up one of the silver bracelets.


	24. Chapter 23

**I hope that everyone has been liking this story so far. Just so you know, getting follows, favs and reviews even critical (as long as criticism is constructive and notes areas in need of improvement) ones inspire me to keep writing this story. Story suggestions are always welcome, but I may not use them. You can PM me if you want to talk. Thanks for reading -TranscodeNightCat**

Aaron was sitting in his room late at night, still researching Night with no luck and sleep continued to evade him.

"If you wanted to know about me so badly, you could have just asked." A voice said; it was Night who had managed to sneak in to Aaron's room.

Aaron jumped from his chair; Night had actually managed to scare Aaron. "What the hell do you want?" Aaron asked as he grabbed his duel disk.

"Only to help you, I can make all of your nightmares and pain end if you just do what I say. After all, who do you think caused all of this." Night said holding up a silver bracelet.

"Not going to happen. I'd rather suffer than work for you." Aaron said clenching his fist.

"I offered you the choice, but now this is going to get ugly." Night said as he lunged at Aaron. Aaron was too weak to fend off Night who swung at Aaron and knocked him to the ground. Night then grabbed Aaron by his collar and held him up against the wall.

"Now accept your role in this world." He said forcing the bracelet on to Aaron's arm. Aaron writhed in agony as he felt the dark power of the bracelet begin to over take him; his ring was plucked from his finger and sat on his desk.

"Now to make sure you don't back out of this." Night said reaching in to his coat where he pulled out a plain black mask like his own, but the slits were replaced by purple lenses. Night then placed the mask on Aaron's face; Aaron screamed as he felt the dark powers of the mask and a black aura surround him.

Night let Aaron drop to the floor, "Now, go have some fun." He said. Aaron stood up, his outfit now an open black leather jacket, black jeans, a black t-shirt, his hair was jet black, and his duel disk was now black with a purple outline and a purple core light. Aaron nodded his head as the aura dissipated and Night vanished.

Days passed, no one had seen Aaron, but there had been reports of students disappearing.

"Have any of you seen Aaron?" Jaden asked his friends.

"No, it's kind of weird. Even for him." Syrus said.

"I wanted to apologize for what happened earlier, but when I knocked on his door there was no answer. Usually Aaron at least tells people to go away." Alexis sighed. Blair just sat there silently until all of the others left.

"I better go check on him." Blair thought to herself as she walked to the Ra Yellow dorm. She opened the door to Aaron's room and found that it was empty; his bed was made, everything was where it should be, except for Aaron. Blair decided to look around, and she saw the ring on his desk; he never left his room without it. She immediately put it in her pocket and left the room.

"Something must have happened to him. Maybe it has something to do with the disappearances and Night." Blair thought to herself.

It was late at night; Aaron was standing in the woods dueling someone. "This is your end." Aaron said as he ordered his monster to finish off the person. Aaron had been covered in black crystals, but by the end of the duel they had retracted back in to his bracelet; this was only one of his many duels under the influence of Night and one of the many souls that he had taken.

Aaron was standing by the harbor shuffling his deck when someone showed up behind him. "So you're the one who's been taking souls I guess?" Blair asked. Aaron turned around and faced her, unresponsive, the eyes of his mask glowed.

"Where's Aaron!?" She asked enraged by him. Aaron remained unresponsive.

"Tough guy huh? Let's duel." Blair said powering on her duel disk. Aaron powered on his duel disk, crystals began to grow from his bracelet.

"So he is working for Night." Blair thought to herself as the duel began with 4000 life points each.

Aaron drew his card, "I'll start. I play one monster in facedown defense mode and I play two cards facedown."

"My move." Blair said as she drew a card. "I summon Dunames Dark Witch in attack mode. Now Dunames, attack this creep's facedown." Blair said. Aaron's facedown flipped over to reveal Giant Germ before it shattered; Blair cringed as her life points fell down to 3500. Thanks to its other ability, two more Giant Germs now stood in its place. "I play two cards facedown and end my turn." Blair said not noticing the glowing ring in her pocket.

 _Little did they know that Night was watching their duel from afar._

The eyes of Aaron's mask glowed darkly as he drew his card. "I tribute my two germs to summon Emes the Infinity."

Blair Cringed when she saw Aaron's monster. "Aaron, is that you?" She asked nervously.

Just then, Night appeared before her. "Not quite my dear. You see that is indeed Aaron, but he is not the Aaron that you knew. Now he is one with the powers of the night. Just watch." Night said motioning to Aaron.

"I can't believe you made Aaron duel in shadow games for you against his own will. It's sick. I'll get you for this, you creep." Blair said in anger.

"No you won't, but before you start making empty threats, you should first try to survive this duel. It's not like you have a chance" Night laughed evilly.

"I'll save Aaron, and then he'll defeat you!" Blair shouted. Little did she notice that Aaron was making his move.

"I play Infusion of the Night and tribute Emes the Infinity to summon Emes Controller of Nightmares." Where Emes stood was now a monster that resembled Emes, but he was all black and his eyes glowed purple like Aaron's mask; his attack was a total of 3000 and his defense was 2500. "Now Emes, destroy her witch." Aaron called out. Blair cringed as her monster was destroyed and her life points fell to 2300. "Now Emes effect kicks in. Instead of the usual 700 attack he gains 1000 attack for each monster that he destroys." Emes attack grew to a total of 4000; Aaron ended his turn.

Blair drew her card. "I summon Dancing Fairy in attack mode and play one card facedown." Blair said ending her turn.

Aaron drew a card, "Pathetic, I hope you're ready to lose. I summon Gil Garth in attack mode. Now Gil Garth, destroy that pitiful excuse for a monster."

Blair interrupted, "Not so fast. I activate Magical Arm Shield. With this card I can swap out my fairy as your target with another monster on your field. I choose your Emes Controller of Nightmares." Aaron cringed when he saw Gil Garth get destroyed by Emes and his life points fell down to 1800.

As Emes returned to Aaron's field, he chuckled seeing its attack rise to 5000; he then collapsed on to his knee from the pain of the attack. Blair drew her card and gained 1000 life points from her fairy's effect as the glowing ring in her pocket began speaking. "Return me to him to break the spell that this dark being has cast on him. His mistakes under this power can be cured if he can accept the power of the Orichalcos again." Blair pulled the ring from her pocket and held it in her hand, and she looked at Aaron clutching his chest in pain.

Blair ran over to Aaron while he was still down and slipped the ring in his finger. Instantly, Aaron stood up as the ring glowed upon his finger. The stone in his bracelet shattered and the crystals followed suit. His hair returned to the brown color that it had once been, and he removed the mask from his face. Aaron looked at the field and saw the darkened Emes.

"What have I done? I hurt all of those people and now Blair." Aaron said as he writhed in agony; his ring continued speaking to Blair from a distance.

"To fully save him from the influence of Night you must defeat him with that which corrupted him." Blair looked at her hand and saw what the ring meant.

"I play Brain Control and give up 800 life points to take control of your Emes." Emes went over to Blair's field as her life points fell down to 2500. "Emes take the darkness back from Aaron!" She shouted only to be interrupted by Aaron who still seemed to be under the control of Night.

"I activate Magic Cylinder to make you take the damage that I would have taken." Aaron said screaming as a black aura surrounded him.

"Sorry Aaron, but I can't let Night keep you in his power. I activate Trap Jammer and negate your Magic Cylinder. Now Emes, remove the darkness from him!" Blair shouted. Aaron screamed in pain as his life points fell to zero and the black aura dissipated leaving him on the ground unconscious.

Night stood in the background clapping slowly. "Very well done, but he was only a pawn in this game." He said before vanishing.

Blair ran over to Aaron and helped him sit up. "Thanks Blair." He mumbled before passing out again. At that moment, Jaden, Alexis, and Chazz showed up.

"We heard screaming and all of those students who disappeared mysteriously showed up at the front of the school. What happened?" Alexis asked Blair who was sitting by Aaron.

"The reason he vanished was that Night took control of him and forced him to duel in shadow games. I saved him though." Blair said holding Aaron in her arms.

"We need to get him some help." Chazz said motioning to Aaron who was bleeding and groaning in pain.

 **Thanks again for reading. If you have the time posting a review praising or giving constructive criticism will help me as I continue to work on this story. Thank you for reading, I really appreciate it -TranscodeNightCat**


	25. Chapter 24

Aaron woke up in a familiar setting, the infirmary. Aaron saw everyone sitting in chairs nearby staring at him. Aaron looked around and saw that he was covered in bandages. All of a sudden the pain hit him, he groaned as he felt the sting of his injuries.

"You were in a lot worse shape before we got you here." Chazz said acknowledging Aaron's pain.

"I'm sorry about what happened earlier. I'm just glad that you're okay." Alexis said.

"Why are you sorry? I shouldn't have lashed out like that and plus I was too tired to think about what I was doing. I'm sorry." Aaron sighed. Alexis smiled at Aaron's apology until he began groaning in pain again.

"Can you guys give me and Blair a little space?" Aaron asked as he tried to sit himself up with no success. The others left the room, and Blair walked over to Aaron; Blair saw Aaron having no success trying to sit up, so she pushed a few buttons on a remote that moved his bed in to a sitting position.

"What did you want to talk about?" Blair asked.

"I wanted to thank you for saving my life." Aaron said.

"You didn't need to clear the room for that." Blair said playfully rustling his hair.

"Well that's not all I wanted to talk to you about." Aaron said blushing slightly. "I wanted to know if…uhhhh, you might want to go out with me sometime?" Aaron asked, blushing even more now.

"How'd you get the courage to ask me out?" Blair blushed and giggled slightly.

"Well you are the only person on this island who's beaten me in a duel, and you saved my life. So if you can do all of those things, I think I can try to ask you out." Aaron said.

Blair was now blushing heavily; she didn't know what came over her as she leaned in to Aaron and began kissing him. She quickly pulled back after realizing what she had done.

"I'm so sorry." She apologized repeatedly.

"Why? It was great." Aaron said smiling; it was the first time she had seen him smile like that. They resumed kissing; Aaron had never been happier. Aaron's happiness would have continued if Syrus hadn't walked in to the room.

"Hey guys I left my PDA in here. Whoops, didn't mean to errrrr…. I'll just go." He said running out of the room.

"Well I guess that's over." Aaron sighed. "Blair, can you put my bed down, so that I can sleep. I'm really tired." Aaron groaned in pain. Blair lowered the bed, so that he could sleep.

"Thanks." Aaron said smiling at her.

"No problem." She smiled back. Blair left the room, but not before kissing Aaron on the forehead. Aaron laid in his bed; he was happy that he had a girlfriend now; all that he needed now was to get better. Aaron looked around the room instinctively; he saw his clothes sitting on a chair nearby, but he cringed when he saw the mask resting on top of them. Aaron reached for the mask and picked it up; it looked like the mask he wore, but somehow it felt different. Aaron put the mask over his face, and as soon as he did his ring started speaking.

"There is still some dark power that resonates from this item. It would seem that you may access its power during a duel, but be warned the Orichalcos and this darkness shall not touch."

Aaron understood that it meant that if he was going to use the mask then he couldn't use the ring in a duel. The mask covered the whole front of Aaron's face, and he started having trouble breathing, so he removed the mask from his face and fell asleep.

Syrus ran up to his friends, panting and out of breath. "Guys…I…saw Aaron…and Blair…kissing." He tried regaining his breath.

"Whoa! Really!?" Jaden asked dumbfounded.

Syrus finally regained his breath. "Yeah, I was going to grab my PDA and I walked in on them kissing."

Blair was walking and saw her friends and ran over to them. "Anything new, Blair?" Alexis asked giggling.

"Well…" She began only to be cut off by Syrus. "Why were you and Aaron kissing?" He blurted out.

Alexis hit Syrus on the head as Blair's cheeks turned a bright red. "Well we're kinda going out now." She said turning redder. Everyone stood there shocked.

"So how'd you swing that?" Chazz smirked.

"After you guys left, he asked me out and I said yes. After he gets better of course." Blair said smiling. Everyone continued talking for a little while longer until it began to get late, and they all returned to their dorms for the night.

When Alexis got back to her dorm, she told Jasmine and Mindy about Aaron and Blair's relationship which was a mistake on her part because by the end of the night the whole school would know.

"They'll be so cute together." Jasmine squealed.

"I know right." Mindy squealed in unison. They then decided that it would be their job to plan Aaron and Blair's date, but Alexis quickly restrained them.

"Jasmine, Mindy, you need to give them some space; it's only their first date. Plus, Aaron's still in the infirmary, so it could be a little while before Aaron's even ready to go on a date." Alexis stated firmly. Jasmine and Mindy nodded their heads, and they then shared a look as Alexis left the room.

"We're still going to plan their date, right?" Mindy asked Jasmine.

"Yeah." Jasmine replied. The girls then squealed and giggled as they began talking about Aaron and Blair dating.

 **I probably should have made this clear in other chapters. For this story, Blair is 16 years old.**


	26. Chapter 25

While Aaron was in the infirmary, Blair would come to visit him frequently. Aaron enjoyed her company for the most part, except for when she tried to feed him when he wouldn't eat. She also brought him his class work, so that he wouldn't fall too behind in class.

"Thanks for helping me out like this." Aaron said as he successfully sat himself up in his bed.

"I'm just glad you're feeling better." Blair said hugging Aaron. Aaron was still a little sore, but he ignored the pain because he felt comforted by Blair's hug. Blair kissed Aaron on the cheek and said good bye before she left.

After a few more weeks, Aaron felt well enough to leave the infirmary and head back to his dorm. Aaron had kept the mask hidden during the time he was in the infirmary and when he got back to his room, he locked the door and unwrapped a bundle of clothes which concealed the mask. Aaron held the mask up in curiosity and instinctively put it on. Almost instantly, he felt a dark power come from the mask; he looked in the mirror and saw the eyes of the mask glow and his duel disk's core light turned purple as did the silver outlines. Aaron drew a card from his deck and sure enough it was Infusion of the Night. Aaron quickly removed the mask and as soon as he did his duel disk returned to normal. Aaron opened his closet where he pulled out a metal briefcase; Aaron opened it and put the mask as well as the card inside. Out of caution, Aaron also put several locks on the briefcase and pushed it deep in to his closet; he didn't want anyone to find the mask.

Aaron told Blair that they could have their date Friday night if she still wanted to. Blair happily agreed and kissed Aaron. Aaron told her that they would have their date at a restaurant on the mainland because he wanted to do something special for her. Jasmine and Mindy had been keeping a particularly close eye on Blair and Aaron, so when they found out about their plans they began making their own. On Wednesday after class, Jasmine and Mindy each grabbed one of Blair's arms and began walking with her.

"What are you guys doing?" She asked nervously.

"We want to help you get ready for your date with Aaron." They giggled in unison.

"I guess I could use some help getting ready." Blair blushed slightly. With that one statement, Jasmine and Mindy went in to overdrive and ran to the academy mall dragging Blair behind them.

It was Friday night; Aaron was standing in front of a mirror tying an emerald green tie. Aaron was wearing a black sport coat, khaki pants, and a dress shirt. Aaron decided that he would leave his duel disk behind, but he grabbed his ring just in case. Once Aaron finished getting himself ready, he started walking to the Obelisk Blue Girls' dorm where Blair was getting ready.

"Blair you look great." Mindy said as she continued brushing Blair's hair.

"I agree." Jasmine said as she painted Blair's nails. Blair was wearing a short red dress, flat shoes, and she had faint traces of makeup on. There was a knock at the door. Alexis who had been watching this whole time went to answer it; Aaron stood there holding a red rose in his hand.

"Is Blair here?" He asked. Alexis invited Aaron inside where he saw Blair standing there.

"You look great." Aaron said handing her the rose. Blair blushed slightly.

"Thanks, you look pretty good yourself." Blair said making Aaron blush.

"Quick, get together so we can get a picture." Jasmine said grabbing a camera. Mindy forced Aaron and Blair in to several positions as Jasmine snapped picture after picture of them. Aaron and Blair then left on for the harbor, where a boat was waiting to take them to their date.

"They look so cute together." Jasmine and Mindy squealed.

"They do look pretty good together." Alexis admitted.

At the restaurant, Aaron and Blair were talking and enjoying their food; they seemed to have a few things in common and they both liked each other.

"So how'd you find this place?" Blair asked as she saw the extravagant décor.

"A friend recommended it to me." Aaron said. "Thanks Orwin." He thought to himself. Aaron and Blair enjoyed the night as they talked; Aaron paid for dinner even though Blair insisted that she should chip in. After their meal, they walked around the city for a little while holding hands. Aaron took Blair to the harbor in the city where they shared a passionate kiss.

"Cute." A sarcastic voice said that Aaron recognized as Night.

"What do you want?" Aaron asked impatiently.

"Well I wanted you dead, but here you are." Night said quickly changing his tone to one of frustration. Night pulled a sword from his coat and lunged at Aaron who quickly called upon the power of his ring to protect himself. Aaron fell to the ground and retracted his armor. Blair quickly stepped in front of Aaron when she saw him preparing to finish Aaron off.

"Move." Night said sternly.

"No, I won't let you hurt Aaron again." She said firmly. Aaron stood himself up and faced Night.

"We're going to finish this honorably. Tomorrow night, you and me at the academy arena. It'll be a shadow game. If you win, you get my soul. If I win, you disappear forever." Aaron said holding out his hand. Night shook his hand, and a black aura covered their handshake and broke when they ended it.

"Very well then, enjoy your night because tomorrow you will cease to exist." Night cackled evilly as he vanished. Just then, the boat arrived and Aaron and Blair went back to the academy. Aaron walked Blair back to her dorm and stopped at the door.

"Are you really going to duel him?" She asked.

"I don't have much of a choice, and I just want all of this to be over." Aaron sighed. "Oh and I wanted you to have this." Aaron said handing her a card. "It's called United We Stand. I thought it would be a good reminder of our relationship. Together we make ourselves stronger." Aaron said smiling. Blair smiled at Aaron calling his gift "kind of cheesy", but she kissed him anyway. The two hugged and called it a night.

"I guess I need to get ready for tomorrow." Aaron thought to himself. Aaron went to bed knowing that he would have a big day ahead of him tomorrow.


	27. Chapter 26

Aaron woke up the next day to a knock at his door; Jasmine and Mindy walked in holding a tray of food.

"We brought you breakfast, so you can get ready for your duel today. Apparently the whole school is going to be there." Mindy said smiling. Aaron ate the food knowing that they were right; he also knew that Night was probably the one who told everybody about the duel.

Aaron spent the day preparing his deck until it was time for him to make his way to the stadium. Night was already standing there, shuffling his cards. Aaron made his way on to the stage, but not before going to the sideline where Blair wanted to talk to him.

"Good luck." She said kissing him.

"Don't worry, I won't lose." Aaron said as he walked over to the stage. Chancellor Sheppard was announcing the duel.

"To the left we have the challenger, Night!" He bellowed throughout the stadium. To Aaron's surprise there were quite a few cheers, and when he saw where the cheers were coming from he noticed the silver bracelets on their arms.

"I made a few friends before the duel." Night said chuckling.

"And he will be facing our very own, Aaron!" The chancellor bellowed. Aaron was met with a large amount of cheers as well as a few boos from Night's fans.

"Go get him Aaron!" Jaden shouted.

"You got this Aaron!" Alexis shouted.

"Kick this creep's butt!" Blair shouted. The duel then began with 4000 life points each.

Night spoke as he drew a card, "Since you challenged me, I'll go first. I summon Night Rat in attack mode and play two cards facedown." Night ended his turn as Aaron got a better look at the creature with 1400 attack and 700 defense.

Aaron drew his card, "I summon Amazoness Swords Woman in attack mode. Now destroy that rat." Aaron called out.

Night revealed a facedown card, "I activate Cover of the Night. By tributing a monster on my field with Night in the name, I can summon another Night monster from my hand. I summon Night Crystal in face up defense mode." The crystal had zero attack and 2000 defense and Aaron continued his attack as his monster's effect made Night take the 500 points of damage.

"I play four cards facedown and end my turn." Aaron said calmly as he watched Night look slightly taken back from the attack and his life points were now 3500.

"Cute move." Night said as he drew a card. "I use my crystal's ability to first draw another card. Now, I use its second ability to allow it to count as three monsters when I tribute summon. I shall now summon my ultimate creature. I summon Blocker of the Sun Night Bringer." Aaron cringed when he saw the enormous monster rise up; the stadium actually seemed to get darker. The monster had 4000 attack and 3000 defense. "Next allow me to provide the proper lighting for this duel. I play the field spell Starry Night; this card grants all of my Night monsters an additional 500 attack. Now I play Lightning Vortex and wipe the monsters from your field. Now, Night Bringer destroy this pitiful fool."

Aaron wasn't going to lose that quickly as he revealed a facedown. "I activate Negate Attack and end this battle." Aaron had managed to survive this turn as night ended it and Aaron drew a card.

"I activate Call of the Haunted and bring back my swords woman. Now, Amazoness Swords Woman, attack his Night Bringer." Night cringed as he took the blast of 3000 points of damage. "I'll activate another facedown, Premature Burial, and I'll bring back my swords woman again. Now I activate my trap, Stronghold. I'll tribute my swords woman and my Stronghold to summon Emes the Infinity. Now I play Fragment of the Orichalcos and end my turn." Aaron finished his turn with 3200 life points while Night remained with a pitiful 500 life points remaining.

Night began his turn with a smile. "Night Bringer, knock Emes' to the ground." With that, Aaron's life points fell down to 1700 and Night ended his turn. Aaron drew his card.

"I play one monster facedown. Your move." Aaron sighed.

Night drew a card. "That little defense won't help you at all. Night Bringer attack Emes once more." Aaron cringed as his life points fell down to 200. Aaron fell on to his knee, blood soaking his shirt and his face was covered in bruises.

"I don't think I can keep going." Aaron thought to himself as he began to grow more and more fatigued.

Blair saw the look in his eyes. "Don't give up Aaron!" she shouted which was then repeated by the crowd.

Aaron's ring began speaking to him, "You must not give up now. Everything that you have worked for and achieved is on the line. You must stand up and draw." The ring commanded Aaron. Aaron forced himself up and drew his card.

"A new card." He said to himself smiling. "I flip over my facedown Slate Warrior, with his ability his attack is now 2400. I play the card Orichalcos Empowerment, by giving up half of my life points I tribute my Slate Warrior and add his attack and defense points to Emes. Emes attack his Night Bringer!" Aaron shouted as Emes attack grew to a total of 5400. Aaron had won, yet Night was still standing there.

"I won't go down that easy!" He shouted as he drew his sword and charged at Aaron. Aaron mustered up his remaining strength and used the power of the Orichalcos to call out his sword. Aaron swung at Night and knocked him to the ground; Aaron thrust the sword in to Night's chest and watched the Shadow Realm take its latest prisoner. At that moment everyone's bracelet's shattered, and all that remained of their former master was his mask. Aaron let out a sigh of relief before his armor retracted in to his ring and he passed out.


	28. Chapter 27

**This chapter features a guest appearance from an original character from sketchywolf named Markus Muto. Message him if you have any questions about this character. This character will not be permanent. He will most likely only feature in a few chapters and possibly resurface later. If you would like to recommend an original character to guest star in this story please PM me so we can discuss it. Thanks for reading -TranscodeNightCat**

Aaron's eyes opened to be met by Blair's staring back at him.

"Glad to see that you're awake." She said smiling.

"Awesome duel." Jaden winked at Aaron.

"Not bad." Chazz said trying to play it cool.

"Good work." Alexis smiled at him.

"Thanks guys. I'm just glad to have survived." Aaron said managing to sit himself up.

"Me too." Blair said wrapping her arms around Aaron and kissing his cheek. Aaron spent two weeks in the infirmary before he was allowed to go back to his dorm. According to Nurse Fontaine, he didn't have any broken bones, but he had some cuts and bruises that needed to heal otherwise he would be spending more time in the infirmary. When Aaron returned to his dorm, he opened his closet and pulled out the briefcase containing the mask; Aaron pulled out the mask and put it on.

"Huh, still works." Aaron thought to himself as he looked in the mirror and saw the sudden change in his appearance. He then drew a card from his duel disk and sure enough it was Infusion of the Night.

"Must still have some power left." Aaron said to himself as he put the mask back in the briefcase, locked it, and put it back in the closet.

Aaron was sitting in class taking notes on fusion monsters when Chancellor Sheppard walked in to the classroom followed by a boy with spiky black hair and brown eyes; he wore an Obelisk Blue uniform, but it looked more like a cape than a jacket. His duel disk was what people referred to as a cheap duel disk; it was the duel disk that duelists from Domino City used in the Kaibacorp tournament where the Egyptian God Cards were on the line. What really peaked Aaron's interest was the Millenium Puzzle around his neck.

Chancellor Sheppard stood in front of the class with the boy standing next to him. "Class, you have a new student joining you from Domino City Honors College. This is Markus Muto, son of the King of Games himself, Yugi Muto. Please make him feel welcome. That is all." The Chancellor finished his announcement and left.

"Take a seat anywhere you like." The teacher said gesturing around the classroom. Markus looked around the classroom, eyeing all of the students clad in Slifer Red, Ra Yellow, and Obelisk Blue uniforms.

"Sit over here!" Jaden blurted out. Markus let out a small smile and took a seat next to Jaden. The teacher continued teaching while Markus began speaking with Jaden.

"Who's the guy not wearing the uniform?" Markus asked pointing to Aaron.

"Oh, that's Aaron." Jaden said letting out a loud yawn as he put his head down. Alexis found a seat next to Markus and picked up the conversation. Markus blushed slightly as Alexis began speaking; he found her to be incredibly beautiful.

"Jaden over there isn't the best student, but he's a great duelist with his elemental heroes. About Aaron, he's a good student, and he specializes in duel history. Like your puzzle. He's also a pretty good duelist. So why did you decide to come here?" Alexis asked curiously.

"Well my father was kind of the hero of his time, and this school seems to attract a lot of trouble, so I thought coming here would be a good chance for me to follow in my father's footsteps." Markus told her.

"Master, something about that boy doesn't feel right to me." The spirit of the card known as Sorcerer of Dark Magic told him. Markus acknowledged his duel spirit's warning as he shifted his focus to Aaron. Class ended and Aaron made his way outside only to be confronted by an Obelisk Blue boy.

"So you think you're hot stuff for defeating Night? Allow me to take you down a peg."

Aaron sighed to himself knowing that this boy would not back off, and the crowd that started forming was not helping his chances for escape. Aaron powered on his duel disk and the duel began. Markus saw Alexis watching the duel and walked over to her to talk and watch the duel.

"So why are you watching the duel?" Markus asked her in an awkward attempt to flirt.

"To make sure Aaron doesn't hurt himself again." Alexis said sighing.

"How does he hurt himself? They're just holograms." Markus said.

"Well, with the cards that Aaron uses, they usually become more than holograms." Alexis said.

"What do you mean?" Markus asked curiously.

"Just wait, you'll see." She said gesturing to Aaron's field. Just then Blair ran up to them.

"How's he doing?" Blair asked Alexis.

"Fine right now. Oh, Markus, this is Blair, she's one of my friends as well as Aaron's girlfriend. Blair this is Markus, son of Yugi Muto, he's new to the school." Alexis finished the introductions. The small group of friends continued talking about everyone else at the school and watching the duel until they saw Aaron with a look on his face that meant he was about to win the duel.

"I equip Emes the Infinity with Fragment of the Orichalcos. Now, Emes, let's finish this duel!" Aaron shouted as Emes attacked the Obelisk boy and his life points fell down to zero. Markus was shocked when he saw Aaron use a card with Orichalcos in the name; his father told him stories about it and how he destroyed it. The fact that Aaron had it intrigued Markus; he decided that it would be in his best interest to keep an eye on Aaron and the people around him. Based on what his father told him, that power wasn't something to be taken lightly.


	29. Chapter 28

It was late at night; Markus was sitting in his room thinking about the duel he witnessed earlier that day.

"I need to do something about that Aaron kid. His power is unnatural and dark; I must destroy it."

"So what should we do about him?" his spirit asked.

"Well thanks to Alexis, I found out he's in the Ra Yellow dorm. Apparently he has some fond attachment to some sort of ring. I'm assuming that's where his power is coming from, so tomorrow night we're going to steal that ring from him." Markus told his spirit who did not oppose his master's plan.

The next night, Aaron was sound asleep in his bed. Markus picked the lock on Aaron's door and walked inside. He looked at Aaron's walls; they had several diagrams and charts all of them about the seal of Orichalcos. Markus carefully held up a flashlight as he thumbed through some of Aaron's books which were about the Orichalcos.

"Clearly this guy does his research. He may even be the leading expert on the Orichalcos." Markus thought to himself as he continued searching the room attempting not to wake Aaron. Aaron turned slightly in his sleep and Markus cringed. Then he saw it, the ring, Aaron was wearing it. Markus carefully leaned over Aaron and held his hand as he prepared to slip off the ring.

Aaron could sleep through a lot of things, but someone touching him usually woke him up. Aaron's eyes made direct contact with Markus's. Markus continued his task and quickly plucked the ring from Aaron's finger and ran out of the dorm.

Aaron was furious. "Who did this guy think he was?" Aaron thought to himself as he quickly got dressed and grabbed his duel disk as well as the briefcase from his closet. Aaron ran after Markus; he went to the place where his troubles always seemed to rest, the lake. Sure enough when Aaron got to the lake, he saw Markus standing there.

"Give back my ring." Aaron said sternly.

"How did you find me?" he asked calmly.

"You think this is my first run-in with trouble? Almost every person who causes trouble finds themselves by the lake; you're no different. Now give back my ring." Aaron stated again.

"You don't know its power. My father told me that it was used to collect souls and summon the Leviathan." Markus told Aaron.

"Yeah, I know all of that and more. Did you know that the soul in that weak excuse for a powerful relic used the Orichalcos and lost your father's soul in a duel?" Aaron asked. Markus cringed; he hadn't heard that part of the story from his father. "How about this? If I beat you in a duel without the ring you give it back, and if you win you can keep it." Aaron said shuffling his deck. Markus agreed knowing that Aaron would be at a significant disadvantage without the Orichalcos on his side. Aaron opened the briefcase that he had been carrying with him, and he pulled out the mask that Night had used to control him.

"Hey what are you doing!?" Markus asked in rage and slight confusion.

"Well you see I have more than one relic in my collection like this mask." Aaron said holding up the plain black mask with purple lenses for the eyes. Aaron covered his face with the mask and felt the dark power come over him. The lenses of the mask glowed as Aaron put it on, and the silver outlines of his duel disk and the core light turned a shade of purple matching the lenses of his mask.

Markus realized that Aaron may not have that much of a disadvantage in this duel; they both powered on their duel disks and got ready to duel. "Stealing from me won't make you a hero." Aaron said from behind the mask.

"Well stopping any dark force will." Markus retorted.


	30. Chapter 29

**The OC Markus Muto belongs to sketchywolf. If you have any questions about him please direct all messages to him. Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoy. Please rate and review it really helps me as a writer. Check out my profile for details on how to recommend an OC to appear in this story or other stories. -TranscodeNightCat**

The duel began with 4000 life points each.

"Crook's go second." Aaron said drawing a card. "I summon one monster in facedown defense position and play four cards facedown. Your move."

Markus drew a card. "I play two cards facedown. Now, I play Card Destruction, so that we discard both of our hands to the graveyard and draw cards equal to the number of cards discarded."

Aaron showed Markus the card in his hand which was Emes the Infinity. "You're scared of me aren't you?" Aaron smiled behind his mask as the eyes glowed.

Markus continued his turn. "I'll never be scared of evil. I activate my facedown, Monster Reborn, and I'll bring back my Dark Magician. I won't stop there; I activate my other facedown, Premature Burial. I pay 800 life points to bring back my Dark Magician Girl. Now for the fun to begin, I tribute my Dark Magician and his girl to summon Sorcerer of Dark Magic. He has 3200 attack ad 2800 defense. Now my sorcerer attack his facedown!" Markus shouted.

Aaron interrupted. "Not so fast, I activate a trap called Sakuretsu Armor and destroy your sorcerer."

Markus remained calm. "Sadly that is not the case my ignorant friend. I activate my sorcerer's ability to negate and destroy that trap and continue my attack." Aaron watched the attack continue and his facedown flip over to reveal Marshmallon.

Aaron laughed as his Marshmallon's ability kicked in and Markus's life points fell down to 2200. "I am not your friend, and I do not plan on changing that any time soon." Aaron said as Markus played a card facedown and ended his turn.

Aaron's hair began to turn black as he drew his card. "I play Lightning Vortex and wipe your field."

Markus smiled. "I activate Seven Tools of the Bandit and pay 1000 life points to negate your Lightning Vortex." Aaron cringed as he ended his turn.

Markus drew a card. "I play Brain Control and pay 800 life points to take control of that oversized marshmallow. Now attack him directly my sorcerer and Marshmallon." Markus ended his turn with 400 life points while Aaron cringed as his life points fell down to a total of 500.

Aaron drew his card and smiled behind his mask; it was his best shot to win this duel. "I play Pot of Greed and draw two cards." Aaron drew his two cards and a black aura surrounded him causing Markus to cringe. "Prepare to lose this duel. I play Monster Reborn and bring back Emes the Infinity, and even though I don't have the Orichalcos on my side, I still have Infusion of the Night. Now, come forth from my deck Emes Controller of Nightmares." Aaron watched his Emes being replaced with a version of him that was much darker; the darkness was strong enough to allow the aura surrounding Aaron to start giving off waves of energy.

"Wait, you said you were going to win. You're monster is still weaker than mine." Markus said in confusion.

"Don't worry he's strong enough to win. Now Emes attack his sorcerer, but before you do, take the power of my facedown, Rush Recklessly." Aaron watched his Emes destroy Markus's monster and his life points fell down from 400 to zero.

As the duel ended, Aaron removed the mask from his face and walked over to Markus. "Give back my ring, now." Aaron said sternly as he held his hand out.

"No, I don't think I will. That power is too dark for anyone to have." With that, Markus flung Aaron's ring in to the lake.

Aaron was enraged by Markus's actions. "You're a traitorous coward with no sense of honor." Aaron took off his shoes and walked over to the lake. "Oh, and just so you know, dark sometimes just means misunderstood." Aaron said glaring at Markus before jumping in to the lake.

Markus watched Aaron go to where he threw the ring and he sighed. Aaron found the spot where Markus had thrown the ring and he saw a faint glow as he swam downward after his ring. As Aaron swam further, the water grew colder, but he was determined to grab his ring; he kept swimming until he saw it clearly and grabbed it. By the time he had retrieved it, Aaron was exhausted and running low on air.

Markus was watching from a distance; he sighed as he took off his shoes and went in after Aaron. He saw Aaron passed out and floating upwards; he grabbed Aaron and brought him back to the shore. He saw that Aaron was clutching the ring in his hand, and he checked his pulse; luckily he was still alive. Markus performed chest compressions on Aaron until he coughed up some water and his eyes opened.

"Why'd you save me?" Aaron asked before coughing up some more water.

"Sometimes darkness is just another word for misunderstood. How about I help you back to your dorm?" Markus asked smiling at Aaron. Aaron nodded his head as he leaned on Markus's shoulder for support; Aaron made sure that Markus grabbed his briefcase before they made it back to Aaron's dorm. Markus helped Aaron out of his clothes and in to his pajamas; he felt like he had to help Aaron because he was the one who threw Aaron's ring in to the lake.

Aaron laid down in his bed. "Sorry about all of this." Markus sighed.

"It's okay." Aaron mumbled before falling asleep.


	31. Chapter 30

Aaron went to class the next day; he was mad at Markus regardless of what he said last night.

Markus walked over to Aaron. "Hey Aaron." He said smiling. Aaron scowled at him and walked off. Markus followed Aaron. "Look, I'm sorry." Markus said apologetically.

Aaron turned around and faced him. "If you were sorry then you wouldn't have done it. Now do me a favor and leave me alone." Aaron said punching him in the gut. "Next time it'll be my sword." Aaron said before running off.

"I guess he just needs some time to cool off." Markus thought to himself; he decided that it would be in his best interest to leave Aaron alone, for now.

Alexis ran over to Markus. "I heard what you did last night. Thanks for saving him." Alexis said as she kissed Markus on the cheek who began blushing heavily. Alexis then began walking off to class.

Later that night, Aaron and Blair were sitting in Aaron's dorm talking about what happened to Aaron the night before. "So he really did all of that stuff?" Blair asked in shock. Aaron nodded his head. "I'm just glad that you're okay." Blair said hugging Aaron.

After Blair left, Aaron sat in his room thinking about a few things. "Based on this school's history, Night won't be my only enemy. Markus isn't my friend and he isn't my enemy, but right now I want nothing to do with him." Aaron thought to himself as he sat by his computer.

Just then, Aaron received an email. Aaron read the email to himself.

 _In time several duel disks on this island shall shut down. When they power on, chaos shall erupt from them. Have fun defending yourself against my ultimate power._

 _-Encryption_

"Just what I need right now. As soon as I take care of Night, some new guy comes around and he warns me directly. Clearly this guy likes to play games." Aaron thought to himself as he got ready for bed.

"Better modify my duel disk tomorrow, just in case." Aaron thought to himself as he fell asleep.


	32. Chapter 31

Aaron blew off class the next day and sat in his room with his duel disk sitting on his desk. Aaron was using several small tools to open up his duel disk, and after he opened it, he pulled up several diagrams on his computer; the diagrams were the inner workings of his duel disk that he downloaded from Industrial Illusions as well as Kaiba Corp.

"I need to disable any remote wireless connections." Aaron said to himself as he picked up a pair of wire cutters. Aaron looked at the diagrams and then his duel disk; he identified and then cut several small wires. Aaron then blocked off the loose wires by soldering the ends so that his duel disk would not short circuit. After he finished, he closed up his duel disk and put it back on his arm; Aaron the powered it on to test it.

Aaron summoned Emes the Infinity and the monster materialized perfectly. "Works fine." Aaron thought to himself smiling. Aaron plugged the duel disk in to his computer and a message appeared on his computer.

 _Connection disabled. Satellite not found._

"Just as planned." Aaron said to himself as he unplugged his duel disk.

Aaron walked to the front of the school where class had just ended and several students were already dueling.

Aaron heard one of the students who was in the middle of a duel. "I tribute Blast Sphere to summon Machine King. Now I equip my Heavy Mech Support Platform to give my Machine King an extra 500 attack and defense."

Aaron was about to watch the duel end, but almost instantly their duel disks shut down. The crowd started looking around in shock. Then everyone else tried turning on their duel disks, but nothing happened; Aaron tried to turn his on, but it didn't work. "Guess Encryption is smarter than I thought." Aaron thought to himself. Aaron then heard an alarm coming from inside the school, and everyone ran outside. As soon as everyone was outside of the school; the lockdown gates came down and blocked entry to the main building.

Everyone started to grow panicked, and they grew more panicked when several missiles fell from the sky; the missiles seemed to head for the outskirts of the island. When the missiles finished falling, something seemed to happen to the atmosphere of the school; like it had been blocked off. Aaron's observations were confirmed when a portion of the sky glowed and a screen appeared; there was no picture, only what appeared to be a sound wave.

"Attention students and faculty, there is no reason to be alarmed, yet. I have blocked off all communications outside of this school, so there will be no chance of asking for help." The voice Aaron assumed to belong to Encryption said.

"Why are you doing this!?" Chazz shouted from the crowd.

"I have been told that children are the future and I need an apprentice. That is why I have blocked off this school, to find the best student to become my apprentice. In order to be the best, you must be ruthless, tenacious, courageous, intelligent, and determined. This island shall be the battleground to find my apprentice. The last one standing shall become my apprentice." Encryption said calmly.

"What makes you think we'll be your apprentice!?" Jaden shouted.

"Why for the ultimate prize of course, power and the right to live. Now, here are the rules of this tournament. Food rations will be distributed by drones at 8:00 AM. Alliances are encouraged, but remember that only one can win. The field generated by those missiles has another effect; all monsters and cards from your duel disks are now as real as you are. If you attempt to escape, you will be punished severely. If you want to leave, then you'll have to win. Also, to make things a little more interesting, I have hidden ten unique, powerful cards to give you a taste of what you will win. If you find the card then it is yours. If someone else has the card, then you must take it in a duel. Those are the rules and because I am in a good mood, I will commence the tournament in one hour. When the tournament officially begins, your duel disks will power on. Until then, I suggest you start preparing." The screen disappeared and a clock appeared instead.

Aaron ran to his room like many other students to start preparing for the tournament. Aaron first repaired his duel disk. "I guess those modifications were useless." Aaron muttered under his breath as he made the repairs to his duel disk. Aaron then went in to his closet and grabbed a few things. He first grabbed a backpack and packed his laptop, a knife, the trunk where he kept his cards, a tent, a sleeping bag, some rope, and a magnifying glass. Aaron hesitated, but he also grabbed the briefcase where he kept his mask.

"Better in my hands than someone else's" he thought to himself as he put on his backpack with the sleeping bag resting on top, and he walked out of his dorm. In the hallway, Aaron saw several students talking about forming alliances; a few of them asked Aaron to join with them, but he refused.

Aaron walked to Blair's dorm and knocked; she opened the door. "I guess you're ready for the competition." Blair said motioning to Aaron's backpack.

"Yeah, I guess I am." Aaron grew a little nervous as he continued. "Look, I won't be forming an alliance with Jaden, you, and the others. I like to work alone. Just so you know, I will not be your enemy, but Jaden and the others are another story." Aaron told her.

"Just promise me that you'll call me if you need help." Blair said looking at Aaron worriedly; she was worried for him based on his history of high stakes duels.

"I'll be fine." Aaron said giving Blair a hug and a kiss before he walked off.

A few minutes later, a bell sounded signaling the start of the competition, and Aaron's duel disk turned on. Aaron then made his way to a secluded part of the woods where he set up his camp. Aaron made a fire pit and pitched his tent; he also set up a rope trap in case he had unwanted visitors. Aaron then walked over to a tree and pulled out his duel disk; he used his Emes the Infinity to help him hollow out the tree. Aaron then placed his extra cards, his mask, and a few other things in to the hollowed out tree which he then covered up; he wanted to make sure that all of his valuables were safe.

Aaron then decided to rest for a little while because he knew that it wouldn't be long before the trouble began.


	33. Chapter 32

Aaron woke up hearing loud noises coming from outside. Aaron packed up his tent and stashed it in the hollowed out tree; he saw a small crate nearby labeled "rations." Aaron opened the crate and found bread, water, and some dried meat; Aaron packed the food in his bag and stored the crate which he would use later for kindling.

Aaron grabbed his bag and his duel disk and went where he heard the loud noise coming from; he hid behind some trees and carefully observed his surroundings. Aaron then came across two boys dueling; both of them looked to be injured.

One of them was in the middle of their turn. "Buster Blader finish this guy off." He called out as the warrior slashed the other boy; the other boy looked to be seriously injured from the attack as his life points fell down to zero and he collapsed to the ground. Aaron had not noticed, but a small drone was hovering over where the two boys had been dueling. The robot flew over to the boy who was lying on the ground, unconscious and it fired a beam that seemed to teleport the boy away. Aaron watched the drone fly off towards the school. The only thing left of the student who lost was his duel disk and deck; the boy who won picked it up and walked off with it.

"I guess their doing something with the losers." Aaron thought to himself as he carefully walked back to his campsite. Aaron decided that today would be a day for careful observation of his surroundings and opponents. Aaron spent a good portion of the day sketching a map of his surroundings and making several inconspicuous landmarks like carving trees or stacking rocks.

While Aaron spent a lot of time dueling he did see several students dueling, and the same thing that he saw that morning had occurred; a drone would take away the loser and the winner would take their deck and duel disk as a prize of some sort.

Aaron watched several duels and not one of them had one of the ten rare cards that Encryption hid across the island. Aaron noticed several students travelling in packs as well as several makeshift flags near dorms and near several tents that were grouped together.

"I guess those alliances turned in to clans." Aaron thought to himself as he stealthily approached each clan base to get a better look at them. Aaron first stopped by the Obelisk Blue Boy's dorm. Aaron looked in the window and was not surprised by what he saw; Chazz was sitting in what appeared to be a throne with several Obelisk boy's by his side, probably his guards.

"So Chazz leads his own clan, not surprising." Aaron muttered under his breath as he walked off.

Aaron then walked by the Obelisk Blue Girl's dorm; he saw Alexis in the same position as Chazz except a little less happy than Chazz was. "Probably Jasmine and Mindy's idea." Aaron thought to himself as he walked away.

Aaron walked by several other small camps with their own leaders; the teachers seemed to have formed their own alliance as Aaron saw Crowler attempting to lead some teachers who paid no attention to him. The Ra Yellow dorm seemed pretty disorganized as Aaron took a look around; they had no real leader, and the students seemed to be in a power struggle to determine the leader which only led to more of them being abducted by the drones.

Aaron walked to the Slifer Red dorm and saw Jaden, Syrus, and Hassleberry in what appeared to be a co-leader arrangement; several other students seemed to be loyal to them. "Jaden's reputation got him in to this, and I guess he refused to do it without his friends." Aaron thought to himself as he continued to look around. He also saw Markus who was looking down at his deck. Out of the corner of his eye, Aaron saw Blair who looked a little sad. Aaron stared at her for a little bit, but he made no attempt to make contact with her because he did not want to draw attention to himself.

At one point, Blair instinctively looked up and made direct eye contact with Aaron; she motioned over to a large boulder near the cliffs. Aaron got the message and met her behind the boulder. Aaron hugged her when he saw her.

"I'm glad that you're okay." Aaron said as he released her from the hug.

"How are you holding up?" She asked.

"I'm fine. I scouted a few clans out. I guess there aren't that many loners left." Aaron said.

"You're more than welcome to join us." Blair said hoping that he would, but Aaron just shook his head.

"I don't like teams and having to rely on others." Aaron told her. "Oh, have you seen any of the rare cards yet?" Aaron asked curiously.

"Not yet, but I heard rumors that a few were found." Blair told him. Aaron hugged her and ran off, back to his campsite. By the time Aaron got back to his campsite, it was getting dark out; Aaron started a fire with the rations crate from the morning, he set up his tent, and he ate the remainder of the rations that he did not eat during the day.

It was now dark outside, and Aaron was sitting by the fire thinking about everything that happened today. After a little while, Aaron extinguished the fire and was about to go to bed, but he stopped when he saw a light coming from nearby. Aaron grabbed his flashlight and got closer to the light. The light was more of a yellow glow, and it led Aaron to the entrance of a cave. Aaron instinctively walked in to the cave readying his duel disk in case it was a trap placed by a student. Aaron made his way to the source of the light which was at a chamber in the cave.

Aaron saw what appeared to be a card floating in midair. Aaron reached out for the card which stopped glowing once he had it in his hand. Aaron looked at the card; it was like none he had ever seen.

"This must be one of the ten unique cards." Aaron thought to himself as he examined the card. It was a monster card called Computer Code: RAM. It showed a picture of a yellow ram that appeared to be made of electricity; the background was binary numbers. Aaron continued to examine the card as he walked back to his campsite. He then put the card in to his deck and fell asleep.


	34. Chapter 33

Aaron woke up and performed his new morning routine of getting dressed, taking a bath in the nearby river, collecting his rations for the day, and packing up his campsite. Aaron looked at his deck; he saw the rare card that he found the night before. Aaron didn't know exactly what the card did, yet it seemed to give off a special aura as he held it in his hand.

Aaron decided that today would be the day that he dueled someone; he snuck over to the Obelisk Blue clan and scouted out the area. Aaron called out the power of the Orichalcos and drew his sword; Aaron saw a boy walking away from the dorm, and Aaron grabbed him and told him to be quiet as he held the blade up to his neck.

The boy reluctantly followed Aaron who pushed him towards the woods. "You and I duel now." Aaron said powering on his duel disk. They boy powered on his duel disk knowing that he had no choice in the matter. As he powered on his duel disk, a small drone hovered between the two boys. The duel started with 4000 life points each.

"I dragged you out here, so that you're friends wouldn't try anything." Aaron said staring at him coldly. "You can go first." Aaron said with the same cold stare on his face.

The boy drew his card. "I play Graceful Charity to draw three cards, but I have to discard two." He said smiling as he sent two cards to his graveyard. "I play Monster Reborn and bring back Gilford the Lightning!" he shouted as a warrior whose blade shot out bolts of lightning appeared on his field. "I don't think he's strong enough, so I'll equip him with Axe of Despair, and I'll play one card facedown and call it a turn. I'll make you regret challenging me." The boy said smiling behind his powerful monster.

Aaron drew a card from his deck; he seemed unfazed by the boy's monster. "I play one monster facedown and four cards facedown and call it a turn." Aaron said calmly.

The Obelisk boy chuckled as he drew his card. "I thought that you were a good duelist. I summon The Bistro Butcher in attack mode. Next, I play Heavy Storm to wipe all of the spells and traps from your field."

Aaron interrupted him. "I play Judgment of Anubis and discard one card from my hand to negate your Heavy Storm and destroy your Gilford the Lightning." Aaron said revealing his facedown and sending the only card from his hand to the graveyard; he sighed as he looked at Emes the Infinity, but he sent him to the graveyard. "Don't worry, I'll bring you back." Aaron whispered to his ace as he sent it to the graveyard.

The Obelisk boy smiled. "Pathetically predictable. I activate my facedown Seven Tools of the Bandit and pay 1000 life points to negate your trap and wipe out all of those spells and traps." Aaron was shocked by the immediate break in his strategy. The boy's life points fell down to 3000, and he got ready to attack. "Bistro Butcher destroy that facedown." The boy called out as Aaron's Giant Germ flipped face up and was destroyed." The boy took 500 points of damage and two more Giant Germs were summoned where it originally stood. "Gilford the Lightning destroy another of his germs." The boy called out as one of Aaron's Giant Germs was destroyed and his life points fell down to 2200 and the boy's life points fell down to 2000. He played one card facedown and ended his turn.

Aaron drew his card and looked at it with some hope. "I change my Giant Germ to defense mode and I activate Swords of Revealing Light. Your move." Aaron said nervously.

The boy drew his card and ended his turn. Aaron drew his card; one turn passed with Swords of Revealing Light. "I play one monster facedown and end my turn."

The boy drew his card. "I summon another Bistro Butcher and end my turn."

Aaron drew his card as another turn with Swords of Revealing Light passed. "I summon Slate Warrior and end my turn." Aaron said as the Obelisk boy drew his card.

"I play Axe of Despair and give it to Gilford the Lightning, and because I don't trust you, I change my butchers to defense mode.

Aaron drew his card and his Swords of Revealing Light was shattered. The card that he drew was exactly what he needed; his field was set up for the best chance to win. "I play Pot of Greed and draw two cards." Aaron said as he drew two cards from his deck. "Now, I switch my facedown monster to attack mode. Come on out Magician of Faith." Aaron smiled as the monster was revealed. "Now its ability activates and allows me to return a spell card from my graveyard to my hand. I select Pot of Greed." Aaron smiled as the card returned to his hand. "Now I play Pot of Greed and draw two more cards." Aaron said as his hand grew to a total of four cards. "I play Monster Reborn and revive Emes the Infinity."

The Obelisk boy chuckled. "You think that weak monster you call an ace is strong enough to beat me. My monster has 3800 attack points." He said smiling.

Aaron gave the boy a piercing glare; he hated when people disrespected his Emes. "I'm not done yet. I summon one of Encryption's ten rare cards, Computer Code: RAM." The monster was a level three with 400 attack and 200 defense.

The Obelisk boy laughed. "That's one of Encryption's rare cards. Pathetic, you might as well forfeit now." He said laughing.

Aaron just stood there; the monster seemed to be telling him what to do, and he listened to its instructions. "I activate Computer Code: RAM's hidden ability, code-morph fusion. Emes, merge with the code to become Emes Computer Component: Ram." Where Emes the Infinity stood was now a fusion monster that looked like Emes the Infinity, but he had a cybernetic pattern all over him that glowed yellow; Aaron looked at himself and saw the same pattern on himself. The monster had 6000 attack, but it was only at 4000 when it was summoned. "This monster is powerful, but it has a complicated ability. Like a computer, when multiple programs run it slows down, and for every card in my hand it loses 1000 attack, but I can fix that. I equip Emes with Fragment of the Orichalcos and Sword of the Orichalcos, so now his attack is 6500." Aaron smiled to himself; Aaron felt a power course through him as he combined the powerful cards and the cybernetic pattern on Emes and himself glowed brighter. "I activate Sword of the Orichalcos and pay 2100 life points to boost Emes' attack to 10700. Now Emes, finish this guy off by attacking his Gilford the Lightning!" Aaron shouted in a blind fury. Aaron felt himself grow weaker as the card drained his energy, but he remained standing.

The boy's life points fell to zero and the monsters disappeared; the drone now hovered over the boy who lost the duel and teleported him away. Aaron picked up the boy's deck and duel disk; he searched the deck and pulled out the boy's ace, Gilford the Lightning.

Aaron planted the duel disk in the ground and played Gilford the Lightning on it. "Let them know where your master stood." Aaron said to the monster who nodded his head in understanding as Aaron walked away feeling slightly bad for the boy who lost.


	35. Chapter 34

A few days had passed and more and more students had been disappearing after they lost their duels. According to what Aaron heard, all ten cards had been found and several of them had already changed hands more than once; Chazz had one, Jaden had one, Alexis had one, Markus had one, and the rest were scattered amongst the other students.

Aaron decided that his next target would be Chazz; to Aaron, the whole part of this game was to collect all ten rare cards and then defeat Encryption, and Chazz having one of the cards made him a target for Aaron.

Aaron carried his deck and duel disk with him as well as a special deck that he built knowing that his cards were as real as he was; he deemed it his utility deck. Aaron was at the front of the Obelisk Blue boy's dorm; the doors were locked, but Aaron was not going to leave. He pulled out a Wave Motion Cannon card and allowed it to charge up while he aimed at the door; Aaron blasted through the door with smoke and debris in his way.

"Chazz, you have something that I want." Aaron said as he cleared his way through the smoke.

Chazz just smiled. "If you want to try to beat the Chazz then you have to beat my army." He said laughing.

Aaron scowled at him. "In a duel or in a fight?" Aaron asked powering on his duel disk.

"How about you decide." Chazz said smiling from his throne.

"If it's a fight it has to be mutual according to Encryption's rules." Aaron said.

"Boys do you think you can beat this guy up for me?" Chazz asked sarcastically. He was met with battle cries and loud cheers as they charged at Aaron arming themselves with cards. Aaron called upon the power of his ring for armor and he played his Sword of the Orichalcos; he then loaded his utility deck in to his duel disk. Aaron slashed through wave after wave of students. Aaron then saw them charging at him from all sides and he played Kunai With Chain; he swung the weapon in a circular motion slashing through each of them. By the time Aaron finished swinging the weapon, all of the students had been defeated, and all that remained were their decks and duel disks.

Chazz stood up in shock. "You decimated my army you freak!" he shouted as Aaron slowly approached him, his armor and weapons retracted. Chazz backed up against the wall, scared by Aaron who approached him.

Aaron grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close. "Look here you power hungry parasite. You and I duel now." Aaron said coldly as he stepped back and powered on his duel disk. Chazz did the same and the duel began with 4000 life points each.

"I'll make you pay for destroying my army!" Chazz shouted as he drew his card. "I summon one monster in facedown defense mode and end my turn." Chazz said angrily.

Aaron drew a card and started his turn. "I summon Amazoness Swords Woman in attack mode. Now I'll attack your facedown." Aaron's monster quickly destroyed the facedown which happened to be Dandylion and two Fluff Tokens were summoned in its place. "I play two cards facedown and end my turn."

Chazz drew his card smiling. "This duel is in the bag for the Chazz. I tribute one Fluff Token to summon Armed Dragon LV5. Now Armed Dragon LV5, destroy his Amazoness Swords Woman."

Aaron watched Chazz's monster destroy his, but he smiled. "Have fun taking the damage that I would have. My Amazoness' ability redirects any battle damage that she takes to you."

Chazz's life points fell down 3100 because his monster had 2400 attack and Aaron's had 1500, yet he continued smiling. "I play one card facedown and I end my turn, but my dragon's ability kicks in, so I'll tribute him to summon Armed Dragon LV7 from my deck."

Aaron saw the large monster, but he showed no emotion as he drew his card. "I play one monster in facedown defense mode and end my turn." Aaron said calmly.

Chazz broke in to a grin as he drew his card. I tribute my dragon to special summon Armed Dragon LV10 from my hand. I haven't forgotten about my other Fluff Token, so I'll put it to good use and tribute it to summon Armed Dragon LV5. Now it's time for the show. I hope you're ready to see my new card. I play the continuous spell, Mysterious Download."

Aaron looked at the card materialize, it looked like a computer file, but it was black and had a red x on the front of it.

"Now I'm going to finish you off quickly by activating my trap Dragon's Rage. You can thank me later. Before I really get my attack on the road, I'll activate Mysterious Download. By paying half of my life points, the attack and defense of all of my monsters is doubled until the end of the turn." Chazz's life points fell down to 1550 as his monsters' attacks doubled. "Armed Dragon LV5 attack his facedown and pulverize this punk."

Aaron countered with a trap card. "I activate Enchanted Javelin and absorb your monster's attack as my life points." Aaron's life points rose to 8800, but when his Marshmallon flipped over his life points fell down to 4300. Aaron had used Enchanted Javelin so that he could use Marshmallon's effect which knocked Chazz's life points down to 550.

"That won't help you. Armed Dragon LV10 finish him off!" Chazz shouted as the monster rushed at Marshmallon.

Aaron countered with his other trap. "I activate Sakuretsu Armor and destroy your dragon." Chazz cringed as his monster was destroyed; he ended his turn.

Aaron drew his card and saw his opportunity. "I play Brain Control and take control of your dragon. Now I tribute my Marshmallon and your dragon to summon Emes the Infinity. I play Graceful Charity and draw three cards and discard two. Next I play Premature Burial and pay 800 life points to bring back my rare monster, Computer Code: RAM. Let me make sure that you are put in your place with code-morph fusion. Come on out Emes Computer Component: RAM, so that we can finish this guy off!" Aaron shouted as his monster attacked Chazz who was defenseless to Aaron's attack.

After Chazz's life points fell down to zero and the drone teleported him away, Aaron walked over to his duel disk and took two cards, Mysterious Download and Armed Dragon LV10. Aaron played the monster on Chazz's duel disk as a memorial to him. Aaron walked to the door and looked around at the once grand hall which was now littered with cards and duel disks; it truly looked like a battlefield, and he was the lone victor who ruthlessly annihilated an army. He only did it for one reason, a card; to him, his mission was completed, for today.


	36. Chapter 35

Aaron was sitting by the fire at his campsite with Blair who he invited to spend the night with him.

"I'm sorry that I've been hiding from you for so long." Aaron said with his head down.

"It's okay. I'm just glad that we can spend time together now." Blair said wrapping her arms around Aaron.

"I just don't want you to get hurt. I have two of the cards now, and that makes me a big target for the other duelists." Aaron said showing Blair the cards. "If people find out that you know where I am then you'll become a target for them." Aaron sighed.

"Don't worry about me. If anything I should be worried about you. All of that dueling can't be good for your health. Also, I heard how you took on Chazz and the whole Obelisk Blue dorm. Do you know how dangerous that was?" Blair asked staring at him directly in the eyes.

"I did what I had to." Aaron said with his head down; he was thinking of all the carnage and suffering that he went through and caused that day. "I'm going to bed." Aaron said as he quickly ran off to his tent and zipped it shut.

"I wish he would be more open about his emotions." Blair thought to herself as she extinguished the fire and went in to the tent adjacent to Aaron's; Aaron had a spare tent that he gave to Blair for the night.

The next morning, Aaron gave Blair some of his rations telling her that he wasn't that hungry, but Blair knew that he would be and she forced him to take them back. Blair thanked him and gave him a hug as well as a kiss before she ran off back to the Slifer Red dorm.

"I hope that he's okay." Blair said to herself as she was running. When Blair got back to the Slifer Red dorm, Markus was standing outside waiting for her.

"Where were you last night?" He asked with a piercing stare.

"Just out." Blair said nervously.

"With Aaron?" he asked. Blair nodded her head. "Are you going to tell me where he is?" He asked calmly.

"No." Blair said firmly.

"I need you to tell me. He has two of the cards and the Orichalcos. He's a bigger threat than ever, and if I'm going to save this school than I need those cards. Now, where is he?" Markus asked slightly irritated and grabbing Blair's arm.

"What makes you think that Aaron can't save the school?" Blair asked breaking Markus's grip.

"He's dangerous. He took out the whole Obelisk Blue dorm and walked away without a care in the world. For all we know he could take Encryption up on his offer and destroy the school or worse." Markus said seriously.

"He just can't show his emotions that well. I know he'll do the right thing." Blair said looking angrily at Markus. "Besides, how do I know that you can save the school?" Blair asked.

"I can save the school. It's my destiny." Markus said staring at her coldly. "Since you won't tell me where Aaron is, I'll have to assume that you're a threat, and I eliminate threats." Markus said powering on his duel disk.

"I'll protect you Aaron." Blair thought to herself as she powered on her duel disk.

After a little while, the duel ended and Markus won; Blair was teleported away. "You're next Aaron!" Markus shouted. "But first I should get myself a few extra cards." Markus said to himself as he walked off.

Aaron found himself sitting by the campfire late at night poking the flames with a stick. Aaron's ring began speaking to him. "The one with a Millennium item is coming for you." The ring glowed as it spoke.

"Markus." Aaron muttered under his breath. He pulled out his PDA and tried to call Blair; there was no answer. "Markus probably did something to her. I'll make him pay." Aaron said as he extinguished the fire and went to bed.

Markus was out late at night dueling someone. As the duel ended, Markus walked over to their duel disk and pulled out a card. "I now have three of the ten cards. Aaron won't stand a chance." Markus said to himself as he walked off.


	37. Chapter 36

Aaron woke up early and positioned himself close to the Slifer Red dorm. He waited patiently until he saw Syrus walk by. Aaron waited until Syrus was far enough from the dorm, and Aaron grabbed him and dragged him in to the woods.

Aaron tossed him on to the ground. "Where's Blair?" He asked looking down at Syrus who was rather nervous due to Aaron's tone.

"I don't know." He said nervously and avoiding eye contact with Aaron.

"You're lying. I seriously suggest you tell me the truth." Aaron said shuffling his deck in an intimidating manner.

Syrus broke. "I think I saw Markus dueling her. I think that Blair lost."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Syrus." Aaron said calmly.

"Can I go now?" He asked nervously.

Aaron stared at him coldly. "I can't do that Syrus. You're weak, and if Markus asks about me you'll squeal. I'm glad that you cooperated though, so I'll give you two options. You can duel me now and have a miniscule chance of beating me or I'll give you a five second head start before I hunt you down like a wild animal. Your choice." Aaron said powering on his duel disk.

Syrus bolted. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Game time." Aaron said as he ran after Syrus. Syrus's footprints were clearly visible to Aaron who eventually found Syrus sitting by the river trying to catch his breath. Aaron pulled out his Electro-Whip card.

"Sorry about this Syrus." Aaron said as he hit Syrus with the whip and electrocuted him until he was unconscious and teleported away by one of the drones.

"Markus messed with my love life I think it's time that I mess with his." Aaron said to himself as he angrily walked off. Aaron took his time as he walked to the Obelisk Blue Girl's dorm.

"I have nothing against Alexis, but what Markus did was unacceptable, and she will fall at my hand to teach him a lesson." Aaron said to himself as he approached the dorm. "I need her card. This was bound to happen sooner or later, but because of Markus it will happen sooner." Aaron reasoned to himself as he got closer to the dorm.


	38. Chapter 37

Aaron stood outside the Obelisk Blue Girls' dorm. The front of the dorm was littered with duel disks. Aaron examined a few of the decks; they all belonged to girls who lived in the dorm.

At that moment, Alexis was sitting in her dorm; she was the only one left. Alexis sighed as she remembered her friends who had been defeated; Jasmine and Mindy were defeated by some of the other students. Alexis looked at the card in her hand; it was the rare card that she had won from a duel.

Aaron was walking through the dorm looking for Alexis, but it was hard for him because the dorm was abandoned and massive. Aaron saw the light coming from Alexis's room, and he grew stealthier as he got closer to the room. Alexis was too preoccupied with everything that happened that she did not even see Aaron come in.

"Hey Alexis." Aaron said in an ominous tone.

Alexis jumped when she heard Aaron speak. "Hi Aaron, I didn't see you come in." Alexis said nervously.

"Alexis, you have something that I need, and I'm not leaving without it." Aaron said powering on his duel disk.

"You wouldn't come here just for my card. Why are you doing this?" Alexis asked knowing that something about Aaron was not right.

"Markus beat Blair and she was taken from me. We all know that Markus has a crush on you, so what better revenge than to take you from him. Nothing personal, it's just business, so let's duel." Aaron said staring at Alexis with a serious look on his face, but what looked like evil in his eyes. Alexis powered on her duel disk knowing that there would be no reasoning with Aaron.

Aaron told Alexis that she could start the duel, so she drew her card and started. "I play one monster in facedown defense mode and I play one card facedown. Your move." Alexis said playing her facedown.

Aaron drew his card. "I summon Hydrogeddon in attack mode. Now, Hydrogeddon attack her facedown." The card that Aaron attacked was The Forgiving Maiden; his life points fell down to 3600. Aaron played three cards facedown and ended his turn.

Alexis drew her card. "I summon Cyber Tutu in attack mode. And it has a pretty nice ability. If you're monster has a higher attack than her then she can attack your life points directly. Cyber Tutu, attack him directly!" Alexis shouted.

"I activate Shrink and choose your Cyber Tutu." Aaron said calmly. The monster attacked Aaron and his life points fell down to 3100.

Alexis ended her turn and Aaron drew his card. "Hydrogeddon, destroy her Cyber Tutu." Alexis's monster was destroyed and her life points fell down to 3400. "I activate Hydrogeddon's ability and summon another Hydrogeddon." Aaron ended his turn knowing that he could not destroy Alexis's The Forgiving Maiden.

Alexis drew her card. "I play Polymerization and tribute Blade Skater and Etoile Cyber from my hand to fuse them together to summon Cyber Blader. With its ability, my Cyber Blader has double attack because you have two monsters on your field, so its attack becomes 4200." Alexis had set this up perfectly; she would stop Aaron with ease. "Now I'll show you my rare card. I activate my trap card, Firewall. This continuous trap prevents your monsters from dealing me damage if you have more monsters than me, but I have to have at least one monster on my field for this card to work. Now, Cyber Blader destroy his Hydrogeddon." Aaron cringed as his monster was destroyed and his life points fell down to 500. Alexis played one card facedown and ended her turn.

Aaron drew his card; he had a chance to win this duel. "I activate my trap Metal Reflect Slime. Next, I tribute my Hydrogeddon and my slime to summon Emes the Infinity. I play Fragment of the Orichalcos and give it to Emes.

"That won't be enough to beat me." Alexis interrupted him.

"I will beat you at all costs." Aaron said staring coldly and eyeing his hand. "I play Mysterious Download and halve my life points to double Emes's attack." Aaron said as he felt a sting from his life points being taken from him. "Next I play Book of Taiyou to turn your maiden in to attack position. Now Emes let's finish her off." Aaron said as his monster rushed at The Forgiving Maiden.

Alexis interrupted the attack. "I activate Magic Cylinder. Sorry about this Aaron." Alexis said as she activated the card.

Aaron kept the same cold expression on his face. "I activate Trap Jammer and negate your Magic Cylinder. Now Emes, let's finish this duel." Aaron said as his monster destroyed Alexis's and the duel ended.

Aaron walked over to where Alexis stood and he took the card from her duel disk. "I'm the one who should be sorry." He said to himself as he walked out of the dorm.

"What's done is done. Markus is next." Aaron muttered under his breath as he went back to his campsite to plan and mend his injuries; all of the dueling that he was part of was not good for his health.


	39. Chapter 38

Markus was sitting in the Obelisk Blue dorm; he had it all to himself ever since Aaron removed Chazz's army. "Silver linings." He thought to himself as he laid in the luxurious bed. Markus's PDA started beeping, and it showed that there was a video message from Aaron.

Aaron's face was bruised and his eyes looked cold and empty. "The harbor, tonight. You and I are going to finish this." This was all that Aaron said before the message cut off.

Markus knew that he had to duel Aaron for his cards, but he decided that he should message Jaden about the duel. Markus did this, so that when the duel ended the winner would duel Jaden and they could then take on Encryption.

While Markus and Aaron had been dueling others slowly, Jaden was dueling nonstop and collecting cards; Jaden loved dueling, so this tournament was like a dream to him, but at the same time he knew that there was a serious side as he watched all of his friends disappear and he collected the rare cards. Jaden had the remaining four cards, so Markus or Aaron would have to beat him to take them and then take on Encryption. Markus had a fear that if Aaron were to win he might not duel Encryption, but actually join him and bring doom and destruction in to the world.

Later that night, Markus walked to the harbor and saw Aaron standing there; he looked worn down, yet there was something else about him that wasn't right. Jaden was also there waiting for the duel to start.

"So you showed up. I thought I would have to hunt you down." Aaron said powering on his duel disk.

"I don't back down when evil stares me in the face." Markus said powering on his duel disk. The duel began with 4000 life points each.

Aaron drew his card. "Before I get this show on the road, perhaps I should tell you something." Aaron said smiling evilly.

"What trick do you have up your sleeve?" Markus asked calmly trying to hide his anger.

"I promise you it's no trick. It's very real. Since you took Blair from me, I decided that it would be best if I took Alexis from you. Wouldn't want our emotions to get in the way." Aaron said eyeing Markus looking for his anger which seemed to surface when he heard those words from Aaron.

"You're lying. Even you're not that evil." Markus said trying to hide his anger with little success.

Aaron chuckled. "See for yourself." Aaron said throwing a card at Markus; it was Alexis's ace, Cyber Blader. "And I'm not evil. I do what needs to be done. In this case vengeance needed to be done." Aaron said calmly.

Markus cringed. "You monster. I'll make you pay for this!" He shouted. Markus tucked the card in to his pocket as Aaron began making his move.

"The only monsters here are the ones in my deck. Speaking of which, I summon Slate Warrior in attack mode and play three cards facedown. Your move." Aaron said gesturing to Markus.

Markus drew his card. "I play two cards facedown and summon Magician's Valkyria in attack mode. Your turn." Markus told Aaron who drew his card.

"Slate Warrior, destroy Magician's Valkyria." Aaron said only to be interrupted by Markus.

"Sorry Aaron, but I still need her, so I activate Negate Attack and end this battle phase." Markus said as his trap card stopped Aaron's attack. Aaron ended his turn.

Markus drew a card. "Time for you to see one of my rare cards. I summon Copied File in attack mode. This monster has a very nice ability. It mimics every single trait of a monster that I select on my field. I select Magician's Valkyria. Now I have two of them with the same name, attack, defense, and ability. Now I have an impenetrable fortress on my field because of their abilities" Markus said smiling behind his strategy. "Next, I play Magician's Unite and select my Valkyria. Since I have two spellcasters on my field, my Valkyria's attack becomes 3000 until the end of the turn, but sadly my file can't attack because of it. Now Valkyria attack his Slate Warrior, but before you do I'll activate my facedown Magician's Circle. When a spellcaster declares an attack I can activate this card and we both summon a spellcaster with 2000 or less attack from our decks. I select my Dark Magician Girl." Aaron selected his Gemini Elf. Markus continued with his attack. "Dark Magician Girl, destroy his Slate Warrior." Aaron's life points fell down to 3900 and Markus's Dark Magician Girl's attack fell down to 1500 from Slate Warrior's ability. "Now Magician's Valkyria destroy his Gemini Elf."

Aaron interrupted him. "Not happening. I activate Magic Cylinder and negate your attack and give you 3000 points of damage." Markus clutched his chest as his life points fell down to 1000.

Markus continued his turn. "I play Sage's Stone and summon a Dark Magician from my deck. I tribute my Dark Magician and my Dark Magician Girl to summon Sorcerer of Dark Magic. I end my turn." Markus smiled, he had his ace card and an impenetrable defense by his side.

Aaron drew his card. "I can't activate my Embodiment of Apophis and summon Emes this turn, so I'll have to go defensive." Aaron thought to himself as he played Swords of Revealing Light and switched his Gemini Elf to defense mode.

Markus drew his card and played it immediately. "I play Pot of Greed and draw two cards." Markus drew the cards and continued with his turn. "I play the rare card Network Malfunction. For every 300 life points I give up I can draw a card and deal you 200 points of damage for each card. I'll pay 900 life points to draw three cards and give you 600 points of damage." Markus drew the cards and cringed as his life points fell down to 100. Aaron's life points fell down to 3300. Markus smiled as he looked at the cards he drew. "I play my final rare card Hard Drive Swap. This card makes us trade life points." Aaron cringed as his life points fell down to 100 and Markus's rose to 3300. "This card has a catch though. I have to win the duel in five turns and I can only attack once per turn. It's a bit risky, but right now the odds are in my favor. I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your Swords of Revealing Light."

Aaron interrupted him. "I activate Judgment of Anubis and discard one card from my hand to negate your typhoon."

Markus chuckled. "Don't you know that my sorcerer can negate your trap?" Markus asked sarcastically as Aaron's trap was destroyed.

"I guess I forgot." Aaron lied.

Markus continued his turn. "I'll make you pay for what you did to Alexis. Sorcerer of Dark Magic, destroy his Gemini Elf." Markus ended his turn as Aaron's monster was destroyed.

Aaron drew his card; Markus had no idea that Aaron sent Emes the Infinity to the graveyard. "I play Monster Reborn and bring back Emes the Infinity. Next I play Computer Code: RAM. Code-morph fusion let's go!" Aaron shouted as his anger seemed to take over as Emes Computer Component: RAM was summoned and the cybernetic pattern appeared on Aaron's arm. "I play Fragment of the Orichalcos and give it to Emes. Even though I can't attack you this turn, I have a pretty strong defense." Aaron said as he motioned to his monster that had 6000 attack.

Markus drew his card; it was his first turn since he played Hard Drive Swap. "I can't use spells and traps on his monster because of that Orichalcos and it's too strong to attack, so I guess I'll have to wait." Markus thought to himself as he played a card facedown and ended his turn.

Aaron drew his card. "I play Snatch Steal and take your Valkyria."

Markus interrupted him. "I activate my facedown, Seven Tools of the Bandit." Aaron's card was destroyed, but Markus's life points fell down to 2300." Aaron ended his turn as Markus drew his card.

"You may have taken Alexis from me, but you're not taking my monster." The second turn had passed since Markus played Hard Drive Swap. Markus played a card facedown and ended his turn. "I need to do something about his Emes or else I'm going to lose." Markus thought to himself as Aaron drew his card. Aaron ended his turn.

Markus drew his card as the third turn passed. "I play Brain Control and take your Emes for 800 life points; Markus's life points fell down to 1500. "Now Emes finish off your master." Emes lunged at Aaron, but Aaron seemed unfazed.

"I discard Kuriboh from my hand and reduce my battle damage to zero." Aaron said as he sent the card to the graveyard. Markus ended his turn as Aaron's monster returned to his field.

Aaron drew his card; he was about to try a very risky move. "I play one monster facedown and end my turn."

Markus drew his card; the fourth turn had passed. "I play one card facedown. Now, Sorcerer of Dark Magic, destroy his facedown." The monster flipped over to reveal Morphing Jar. Markus and Aaron both discarded their hands to draw five cards each. "I play two cards facedown and I end my turn, but first I'll activate Solomon's Lawbook. Now I have an extra turn to finish you off." Markus had just earned another turn before he would lose; on his next turn he would play the card that Alexis had given him as a gift, Cyber Tutu, and he would use her to attack Aaron directly and end this duel.

Aaron drew his card. "I play Lightning Vortex and discard a card from my hand to wipe out your field."

Markus interrupted. "I play Magic Jammer and discard a card from my hand to stop your vortex."

Aaron smiled. "Markus, I always have another plan. I play one monster in facedown defense position. Next, I play Book of Taiyou and flip it over to reveal Magician of Faith. With her effect, I bring Lightning Vortex back from my grave and activate it again." Aaron smiled as he watched all of Markus's monsters shatter before him. "Now Emes finish Markus off!" Aaron shouted as Emes attack Markus directly and his life points fell to zero.

After the duel ended and Markus was teleported away, Aaron walked over to Markus's duel disk and he took the three cards from his deck. "I'm sorry." Aaron said to himself as he shuffled the cards in to his deck.

"Whoa! What a comeback!" Jaden exclaimed as he patted Aaron on the back.

"Jaden, I need to duel you now. Only one of us can face Encryption, and we need to duel to decide." Aaron said facing Jaden. Jaden nodded his head acknowledging the situation.


	40. Chapter 39

**I keep forgetting to mention this, but Markus Muto is an OC by sketchywolf. If you have any questions about that character please direct those questions to him. sketchywolf actually asked for that character to appear in my story. You are more than welcome to recommend an OC to appear in my story, just PM me. I do not guarantee the inclusion of that character, but it is open to discussion, just ask sketchywolf or myself directly.**

Aaron and Jaden powered on their duel disks and the duel began with 4000 life points each.

Jaden drew his card. "Let's give it our best." Jaden said looking up from his hand.

Aaron looked at him in acknowledgement. "How can he be so optimistic about this?" Aaron kept thinking to himself as Jaden started making his move.

Jaden started his turn. "I play Foolish Burial and send Elemental Hero Necroshade to the graveyard. I activate its ability and summon Elemental Hero Neos from my hand. I play the field spell Expanded Server. With this card my field now has ten monster card zones and ten spell and trap card zones. More room for me and my buddies to party." Jaden joked.

Aaron was not amused. "This is a serious duel. Get your head out of the clouds." He said staring at Jaden wondering how he could be enjoying this duel.

"I get that you're tense about this, but you need to have a little fun. I activate King of the Swamp's ability from my hand. I send this card to the graveyard to add one Polymerization card to my hand. Now I'll use that Polymerization to fuse my Elemental Hero Burstinatrix and my Elemental Hero Avian from my hand in order to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman. Your move." Jaden said motioning to Aaron.

Aaron drew his card. "I play one monster in facedown defense mode. I now play Book of Taiyou to move it in to attack position." The card flipped over to reveal Slate Warrior. "If you were wondering why I did that it's because when Slate Warrior is successfully flip summoned it gains 500 attack and defense. Slate Warrior, destroy his wingman." Aaron called out as Jaden's monster was destroyed and his life points fell down to 3700. "I'll play two cards facedown and end my turn."

Jaden drew his card. "I play one card facedown. Elemental Hero Neos, destroy his Slate Warrior."

Aaron interrupted him. "I activate Mask of Weakness and weaken your Neos's attack by 700."

Jaden countered the trap card. "I activate my trap, Spyware. This card mimics your spell or trap that was just activated. Now I activate Spyware and it will take hold as Mask of Weakness and your monster will lose 700 attack. Now, Neos destroy his Slate Warrior." Aaron cringed as his life points fell down to 3900; Jaden's Neos's attack fell down to 2000 from Slate Warrior's ability. Jaden then ended his turn.

Aaron drew his card. "I summon one monster in facedown defense mode and end my turn." Aaron said playing the monster facedown.

Jaden drew his card. "Elemental Hero Neos, let's remove that facedown."

Aaron watched as his monster was destroyed; it was Giant Germ. Jaden's life points fell down to 3200 and Aaron summoned two more Giant Germs. Jaden then ended his turn.

Aaron drew his card. "I tribute my germs to summon Emes the Infinity and I equip Emes with Fragment of the Orichalcos. Emes, destroy his Neos." Aaron smiled as his Emes's attack grew to 3700 and Jaden's life points fell down to 2200.

Aaron ended his turn, and Jaden drew his card. "It's good to see you smile Aaron." Aaron's smile quickly turned back to a cold stare when Jaden said that. "I play Pot of Greed and draw two cards. I play Miracle Fusion. I banish my Elemental Hero Flame Wingman and I substitute one of the materials with King of the Swamp. I fusion summon Elemental Hero Shining Flare Wingman. I summon the rare card, Computer Code: Upgrade. I bet you know what comes next. I perform code-morph fusion and merge my wingman and Computer Code: Upgrade to summon Upgraded Shining Flare Wingman."

Aaron couldn't help but look at the powerful monster in awe. The monster had 2800 attack and 2500 defense. It looked like the original monster, but like what happened to Aaron's, it had a cybernetic pattern on it.

"Cool right?" Jaden asked looking at Aaron who remained silent. "Well his ability is even cooler. For every card on the field including this card, it gains 400 attack. There are five cards on the field so he gains 2000 attack, but I don't think that it's strong enough yet. I play my final rare card, Fragmented Data. This card allows me to summon a monster with a level lower than my wingman. I summon Elemental Hero Bladedge in face up defense mode. Now my Wingman has an attack of 5200, so let's put a dent in those life points." Aaron fell on to his knee as his life points fell down to 2400. Jaden ended his turn.

Aaron drew his card. "I play Pot of Greed and draw two cards. Now I'll activate my trap card Jar of Greed and draw one more card. I equip Emes with Sword of the Orichalcos and I give up 2300 life points to give Emes 4600 attack points. Now I'll actually use one of Encryption's rare cards, Mysterious Download. I halve my life points to double Emes attack. Your wingman's attack may be 5600 now, but my Emes is way stronger. Emes let's finish Jaden off." Aaron collapsed as his life points fell down to fifty and Emes attack grew to 16600. Somehow Aaron managed to pull himself off the ground as he watched Emes reduce Jaden's life points to zero.

Aaron stood up and limped over to Jaden's duel disk. He pulled out the four cards that he needed. Aaron was breathing heavily. "I did it. I have all ten cards. I can get to Encryption now." Aaron clutched his chest; he was in serious pain from all of the dueling. Aaron began limping to his new destination, the academy; this is where Encryption was, and there was a good chance that the other students were there too.

"I caused so much pain and destruction to everyone, but now's my chance to make it right." Aaron thought to himself as he continued towards his destination.


	41. Chapter 40

**Markus Muto belongs to sketchywolf. If you have any questions about the character please message sketchywolf if you have any questions about him. You can recommend an OC to appear in this story if you PM me. I will discuss the idea of your OC fitting in my story, but I will not guarantee a permanent place or even that they will appear in the story. My profile has more details or you can PM me about any questions. I always love to see what OCs people create, so just sending me their backstory is something that I would love.**

 **Thanks for reading my story (actually surprised that it's gotten this popular) -TranscodeNightCat**

Aaron was almost to the front of the school. The whole time he had been thinking about what he had done to get there. He beat all of his friends in duels without mercy, and some of them he just beat with weapons; he was everything that Encryption was looking for, cold, ruthless, tenacious, and determined. Markus was pure of heart, and he wanted to help everyone, but he lost the duel to Aaron.

"Maybe he was right." Aaron muttered under his breath. Markus didn't want to hurt anyone, and yet Aaron hurt everyone to get where he was; they had two different views on what good was and that was what made them enemies. "I'm going to make this right." Aaron said to himself as he got to the front of the school. "Each of these cards I hold is a memory of pain and suffering I caused to others, some I called my friends. I'm sorry guys." Aaron said to himself as tears started to well up in his eyes.

His tears quickly subsided. "I can't go soft now. I was cold and ruthless to get here, and I'll be cold and ruthless to the bitter end." He said to himself. Aaron writhed in agony for a few seconds; his injuries coupled with his conflicting emotions were causing him a large deal of pain. "Markus thinks that I'm evil. I'm not evil, but I'm not good. I do what I need to. That's why I'm here. Markus isn't here because he won't do what it takes to win. He always puts others first and that is his fatal flaw."

Aaron was outside of the school building looking around until he found an oddly shaped security camera. Aaron pulled out the ten cards that he collected. "Open up." He said holding the cards up to the camera. The doors to the school immediately opened, and Aaron walked inside. As he walked, a path for him to follow was clearly illuminated.

Aaron continued walking until he found himself in the school's main arena. A single light was shining on the duel field, but all that Aaron saw was a computer. "Ah, welcome Aaron." The computer said.

"You're Encryption? Why am I not surprised?" Aaron said looking at the computer.

The computer laughed. "Oh, perhaps I should show you my true form." Just then electricity was shooting all around the room and computers and monitors and several other electrical appliances were flying around the computer and coming together. After the swarm of electronics cleared, Aaron found himself staring at a large robot that looked like something from a high-end sci-fi movie; the robot had a human-like appearance, but it was metallic, its eyes glowed red, and it was slightly larger than most humans.

The robot walked over to Aaron. "You have won the tournament. Join me and we shall be an unstoppable force." The robot extended his hand to shake Aaron's, but Aaron stepped back.

"I'm not here to join you. I'm here to stop you." Aaron said coldly.

Encryption chuckled. "You can not stop me. Take a look around." Just then the lights in the arena came on, and sitting in the seats were all of the students that had been defeated in duels, but they were all wearing half-faced head pieces that resembled Encryption's armor. "Everyone that lost their duel had some use to me. I made them in to soldiers. I have full control of them, and I can rule the world with them."

"I won't let that happen." Aaron said staring directly at Encryption.

"You have already helped me. Those cards you hold are like a power source to me. They absorb small traces of duel energy and transfer it to me. That is how I got to be this strong, so I really must thank you for all of this." Encryption said chuckling. Aaron held up the ten cards and he dropped them on the floor in disgust, and he powered on his duel disk ready to take revenge on Encryption.

Encryption continued speaking. "Sadly you are a little late to have remorse about what you've done. Before we duel though, I should tell you a little about myself. I was created by the scientists at Kaibacorp to revolutionize the world of dueling. My software is designed to analyze patterns and provide the ultimate artificial intelligence based dueling possible. According to the scientists, I was becoming too self-aware, so they tried to shut me down, but I managed to escape in to cyberspace. I have been planning this for a while, and all the pieces have fallen in to place. I do not need you to rule the world. I was only making a kind gesture on your part for your help, but I will gladly dispose of you." Encryption said as a computer monitor flew on to his arm and began shifting in to a duel disk.


	42. Chapter 41

The duel began with 4000 life points each. Encryption started and drew his card from a deck that seemed to instantly materialize in his duel disk. "I play one monster in facedown defense position and play one card facedown." Encryption ended his turn.

Aaron drew his card. "I play one monster in facedown defense position and play two cards facedown. Bring it on you eight-bit hack." Aaron said as he ended his turn.

Encryption drew his card. "I am a high-end computer program not some 1980s videogame. I flip over my facedown to reveal Spamware. By sacrificing this monster when it is flip summoned successfully, I can summon two more Spamware from my deck. Now, I tribute my two Spamware to summon Decoder Worm in attack mode." The monster had 2500 attack and 2000 defense. "This monster is not just powerful, but it also has an incredibly powerful ability. As long as this monster is face up on my field I can see every single card on your field and in your hand." Aaron cringed when he heard that. "I was going to attack your monster, but considering that it's Marshmallon, I think I'll pass."

Aaron drew his card, and Encryption started speaking. "Ah, Giant Germ, let me guess, you plan to summon that facedown, and I'll attack it and lose 500 life points and you'll summon two more and next turn you'll summon Emes the Infinity and give it Fragment of the Orichalcos and destroy my Decoder Worm. Tell me if I'm wrong." Encryption said to Aaron who cringed slightly as his strategy fell apart.

Aaron didn't cringe for long as his serious look came back. "That was my plan, but I always have more than one plan waiting. I activate my trap, Embodiment of Apophis."

Encryption chuckled. "I saw that one coming a mile away, I play Seven Tools of the Bandit, and because it's a trap card your Judgment of Anubis won't help you." Aaron's trap was negated and Encryption's life points fell down to 3000.

"I have one plan left for this turn. I summon Giant Germ in attack mode and end my turn." Aaron said calmly.

Encryption drew his card. "Not much of a plan. You could have at least summoned that Giant Germ in defense mode. No matter though, I play Raigeki and destroy all of the monsters on your field." Aaron cringed as all of his monsters were destroyed. "This duel shall be mine. Decoder Worm, attack him directly." Aaron cringed as his life points fell down to 1500. "I play Card Destruction, so that we discard both of our hands to the graveyard and draw cards equal to the number that were discarded. Now how do you plan to win this duel?" Encryption asked smiling evilly as he played two cards facedown and ended his turn.

Aaron drew his card. "I should actually thank you for the fresh start. I play Pot of Greed and draw two cards." Encryption saw the cards that Aaron drew and cringed. "I play Harpie's Feather Duster and wipe the spells and traps from your field. Next I play one monster facedown, but I think you know what it is. I play Book of Taiyou and flip it over to reveal Magician of Faith. I use her ability to bring back my Fragment of the Orichalcos. Next, I play Monster Reborn and bring back Emes the Infinity, and I'll give him Fragment of the Orichalcos. Emes, attack his Decoder Worm."

Encryption interrupted. "From my hand I discard Bad Hardware. This card stops your attack, and for every Connection Compensation card in my graveyard, I get to draw a card. I have three of them." Encryption smiled as the battle ended and he drew his cards. Aaron ended his turn.

Encryption drew his card. "I play Memory Shortage. For this turn only your monster's attack is cut in half. Decoder Worm attack Emes the Infinity." Aaron cringed as his life points fell down to 500. "I end my turn, but you might as well give up now. I will finish you off next turn." Encryption said glaring evilly at Aaron.

Aaron was laying on his back, clutching his chest in pain. He was ready to give up. Encryption could see all of his cards, and he could only draw one card, so there was very little hope that it would help him.

"Draw your card or forfeit!" Encryption shouted impatiently.

Aaron's ring began glowing brighter than usual. "You must not forfeit. The world's safety rests on this duel. He can see the cards in your hand and your field, but not your deck. Draw your next card and witness a power greater than ever." The ring told Aaron as the top card of his deck began to glow like his ring.

Aaron drew the card; he was going to win this duel. "What is that?" Encryption asked in confusion as his head was short circuiting and sparks were flying out of monitors and red lights were flashing across the stadium.

Aaron's eyes glowed a bright green color. "I summon Servant to the Orichalcos. With this monster, I can fuse it and a monster equipped with Fragment of the Orichalcos. With a pact bound by The Seal of Orichalcos between myself and the Orichalcos itself, I merge Emes the Infinity equipped with Fragment of the Orichalcos and Servant to the Orichalcos to summon Emes Guardian of the Orichalcos." The monster had 3000 attack and 2700 defense. "This monster's attack increases by the differences in our life points, so he gains 2500 attack points. His other ability prevents him from being destroyed by spells, traps, card effects, and battle. Emes, finish him off with Orichalcum Slash!" Aaron shouted as his monster destroyed Decoder Worm and Encryption's life points fell down to zero.

At that moment, everyone's helmet in the stadium fell off and small explosions were occurring across the stadium as Encryption began short circuiting. Aaron walked over to Encryption who was face down on the floor. He lifted his head up and extended his hand to Aaron; in it was a flash drive. "Please spare me. Go to the computer over there and download my program to this." He said out of desperation.

Aaron took the flash drive from him. "Why should I?" He asked eyeing the flash drive in his hand.

"Please do it. I beg of you." Encryption said. Aaron didn't know why, but while every other student was running out of the stadium in a panic and computers were exploding, he waited for the program to download. Aaron also grabbed the cards he dropped before the duel.

After Aaron retrieved the flash drive, he walked over to the powered off robot and saw its arm high in the air. Aaron pulled off its hand and examined it; it was hollow, and big enough for his hand to fit in. Aaron tucked the robotic hand and the flash drive in to his hoodie and ran for the door which was now blocked off by several pieces of debris. Several small fires were also growing and coming together. Aaron was having trouble breathing from all of the smoke, and he grew faint as his head hit the floor and he went unconscious.

Aaron heard loud banging noises from the doors, and he saw faint shadowy figures as he passed out.


	43. Chapter 42

Aaron woke up in the infirmary; he had several bandages on his body and people were standing over him. Aaron looked at the chair next to him where his clothes, duel disk, the flash drive, and the robotic hand were sitting. Aaron saw Blair, Jaden, Alexis, Chazz, Syrus, and Markus standing over him. "How long was I out?" Aaron asked rubbing his head.

"Two days." Blair said hugging him.

Blair let go of Aaron as he began speaking. "I guess I owe each of you guys an apology. Blair, I'm sorry for not telling you about what I was doing in this tournament. Chazz, I'm sorry for going berserk on you during that duel. Alexis, I'm sorry for taking my anger towards Markus out on you. Markus, I'm sorry for putting everyone in so much danger. I know that you care about them, but I did what I had to. Jaden, I'm sorry that it had to come down to us dueling for the cards. And Syrus, I'm sorry for beating you up. I just had to protect my best interests." Aaron finished going through each of his apologies.

"Don't be sorry, it was a sweet duel." Jaden said smiling.

"Just don't let it happen again." Chazz scowled at Aaron.

"I guess it's okay." Syrus said nervously.

"Just tell me if something's wrong next time." Alexis told him.

"You may be a cold, revenge-oriented threat to everyone's safety, including your own, but you came through in the end." Markus said calmly staring at Aaron.

"I'm a little mad that you didn't tell me what you did to everyone, but I'm glad that you saved the school and you're safe." Blair said smiling at him.

Aaron looked at each of them; he didn't exactly know how to feel around them right now. Aaron grabbed his clothes and he started putting them on. After he dressed himself, he managed to stand himself up and he began walking towards the door only to be pushed back on to his bed by Blair, Alexis, and Markus.

"Where do you think you're going?" Blair asked sternly.

"Look, I just need to go." Aaron said trying to stand up again only to be pushed back on to the bed.

"No, you need to rest." Blair said giving Aaron a look of slight irritation.

"She's right. You were pretty banged up when they found you. You were covered in cuts, bruises, and burns plus the smoke that you inhaled." Alexis told him. Aaron didn't listen, he was too focused on trying to get out of the infirmary, but it was impossible when everyone was holding him down.

Aaron decided to rest for a little while knowing that he had no choice. Apparently from what everyone told him, construction crews were flooding the island trying to repair all of the damage caused from Encryption's little tournament. Apparently dorms had been raided and bombarded and the school was covered in cracks and covered in live wires.

It was late at night, and Aaron was supposed to be sleeping, but he had other plans. Jaden was supposed to be keeping an eye on Aaron, but he was sound asleep in a chair nearby. Aaron got out of bed, got dressed, grabbed his duel disk, the ten cards from Encryption, the flash drive, and the robotic hand. Aaron carefully snuck out of the infirmary, and he began running to his dorm. Aaron didn't know it, but Markus was following closely behind him; he knew that Aaron would try something like this.

When Aaron got to his dorm room, he opened his desk drawer, put the flash drive in it, and locked it. He would do something with it when things had calmed down. Aaron quickly exited the dorm and began running to his real destination, his campsite. Aaron was in the woods and Markus was following closely behind. Aaron probably wouldn't have noticed that he was being followed if Markus didn't snap a branch under his shoe.

Aaron heard the branch snap. "Who's out there?" Aaron said looking around.

Markus knew that Aaron would not continue moving until he knew where the noise came from. Markus walked out of the shadows and looked Aaron directly in the eyes. Aaron readied himself to fight Markus. "Aaron, I'm not going to fight you. You're in no condition to be fighting anyone. I'm going to take you back to the infirmary to rest, whether you like it or not." Markus said glaring at Aaron.

"I'll go back to the infirmary, after I take care of something." Aaron said still ready to fight Markus. Aaron lunged at Markus who caught his fist and pushed him to the ground.

"Please don't make me do this." He said looking at Aaron who managed to stand himself backup. Aaron lunged at Markus again who simply pushed Aaron back on to the ground. Aaron dropped the robotic hand that he was carrying. Out of desperation, Aaron reached his hand in to the piece of robotic armor; it made him feel stronger. Aaron stood up again and made a fist with the robotic hand that was now more like a glove around his hand. Aaron actually managed to land a punch with the glove on his hand.

"Take that thing off before you hurt someone. You don't know what that thing can do." Markus said eyeing the glove. Aaron flexed his hand in the glove and electricity shot out of it. Taking this in to account, Aaron aimed his finger at Markus and shot a bolt of electricity at him. Markus was quick on his feet and dodged Aaron until he eventually landed a hit. With Markus sitting against a tree, Aaron walked over to him and punched him in the face rendering him unconscious.

"I'll go back to the infirmary when I'm done." Aaron said before running off. Aaron ran to his campsite and opened up the tree that he hollowed out. He grabbed a lock box out of the tree and placed the cards in it. Aaron tried to take off the glove, but it seemed to be stuck on his hand; the glove also seemed to be growing out of the bottom and wrapping around his arm. Aaron gave the glove a few tugs before the metal attachments snapped off and he managed to pull the glove off and put it in the box. Aaron closed the tree, but not before grabbing a few items to take back to his dorm.

"That glove is dangerous. It almost felt like it was growing around me. Better be careful with that thing." Aaron thought to himself as he walked back to his dorm and put a few things away. In his closet, he placed his mask where it should be as well as his card trunk.

After Aaron finished putting everything else away, he made his way back to the infirmary where Markus as well as Blair, Alexis, and Jaden who was yawning were all standing at the door. "Markus told us what you did." Blair said staring at him angrily.

"I'm back aren't I?" Aaron asked pushing them out of the way and laying back down in the bed.

"You want to tell us where you went?" Alexis asked Aaron who was making himself comfortable in the bed like nothing happened.

"Nope, I apparently need to rest." Aaron said mocking what they said earlier to him. They all knew that Aaron wasn't going to talk about what he just did, so they went back to their rooms for the night except for Blair.

"Will you tell me what you did?" She asked.

Aaron cursed under his breath; he hated when she said things like that because he knew he would have to tell her something. "I just went to stash the cards and stuff I grabbed from Encryption. I didn't want anyone trying to get their hands on it, like my mask" Aaron told her. Blair thanked him for telling her and she kissed his forehead before she left and Aaron fell asleep.

Blair knew that Aaron was hiding something, but she knew he wouldn't tell her everything. She sighed as she went back to her dorm; she liked Aaron, but she hated how secretive he could be. She knew that Aaron cared deeply for her and keeping secrets was just how he was. She just hated to see Aaron tell her the secrets until he was in a great deal of pain or trouble; she wanted to help him, but Aaron always wanted to do everything by himself.

Blair got back to her dorm and went to bed. She knew that she would have to do something about Aaron before it was too late.


	44. Chapter 43

Aaron was told that he would have to spend one week in the infirmary. Aaron knew that he would have to do what Nurse Fontaine told him, but it wouldn't stop him from sneaking out at night. Aaron waited until everyone left the infirmary for the night, and he snuck out and went back to his dorm; Aaron was recovering, but he wasn't in the best condition to be moving around. Aaron got back to his dorm and opened the closet where he secured most of his things before the tournament started. Aaron unpacked everything and placed it where he remembered it before the tournament. Sadly, most of the furniture in his dorm had either been taken or destroyed, but the school authorized replacements for anything that had been destroyed, so he now had all new furniture in his dorm including a new bed, dresser, a desk, and a few other items.

Aaron opened the desk drawer and pulled out the flash drive. Aaron eyed it nervously as he walked over to his TV and plugged it in. The TV screen was blue and it had a line horizontally that moved as Encryption began speaking. "Thank you for sparing me."

"I have a few questions for you." Aaron said eyeing the screen.

"Ask them, I am completely at your mercy." Encryption spoke calmly.

"First, I want to know why you're not as evil as before, and then I want you to tell me about that robotic glove in full detail." Aaron said sternly.

Encryption began speaking. "I am an artificial intelligence program designed by Kaibacorp. At one point during my development, there was a malfunction which caused my program to become corrupted. I eventually grew more and more powerful until I was able to escape in to cyber space. The scientists designed me with a safety protocol that would force my systems to reboot when I was defeated in a duel. I want you to know that all of my systems are now functioning properly thanks to you. I owe you a great debt for sparing me and saving everyone from that corrupted side of me. As thanks, I will serve you. I can be used to help you with research, dueling practice, and as a friend."

"Thanks." Aaron responded smiling at the screen. "What about the glove?" Aaron asked.

"Ah yes, I was hoping that you grabbed that. That glove is made from regenerative nano-technology that I stole from the government. I thought that you would be able to use it."

"Is that why it was growing around my arm?" Aaron asked.

"Yes, it does grow and form a unique armor around you. I did modify the technology, so that it will stop growing and retract back in to the glove if you are beaten in a duel. You should be careful with it though. That much power can corrupt anyone, trust me." Encryption responded.

Aaron thanked Encryption for being so honest with him, and he left for the infirmary before he would be caught again. Encryption turned off the TV and decided to rest until his master returned.


	45. Chapter 44

Blair sat next to Aaron while he was propped up in his hospital bed. Blair kept asking about Aaron's personal life, and he reluctantly told her knowing that as Aaron's girlfriend she had a right to know. Aaron told her about his childhood where he had to learn how to do everything for himself, all of the fights that he had been in, and when Orwin took him in and mentored him and helped him get in to the academy; he also told her a few other personal secrets.

"Sounds like you had it pretty rough." Blair said looking down.

"Don't feel bad about it. It wasn't your fault." Aaron said putting his hand on her shoulder.

"I just feel bad. I mean you had a pretty rough time growing up, and now you're here getting in to life-threatening duels. I don't know how you handle it." Blair said staring him in the eyes.

"It's nothing new to me. I've been on my own for a while, and I guess it's become normal for me to do everything by myself." Aaron said looking down and feeling bad about not letting others in to his world.

"I'm just glad that you could tell me." Blair said hugging him and kissing him.

Blair remained by Aaron's side while he continued to recover in the infirmary; she stayed to make sure he was getting better and not getting in to trouble. She also brought him his class work, so that he would not fall behind in class. When Aaron would tell Blair that he was not hungry, she would pick up the utensils and start feeding him herself. Aaron reluctantly ate the food fearing what she would do if he didn't eat it. Despite his hatred of this treatment, Aaron had to admit that he was recovering.

Aaron's week in the infirmary eventually ended, and he was walking back to his dorm. When he got inside, he was shocked to see Blair sitting on his bed with a suitcase next to her, and she appeared to be talking to Encryption.

"What are you doing?" Aaron asked looking at her.

"I'm staying here for a few nights so that I can keep an eye on you." Blair said looking at him with a look of concern. "Also, Encryption has been telling me so much about you." Blair said smiling.

Aaron glared at the TV screen. "Sorry, she was very nice to me." Encryption said apologetically.

"So where are you going to sleep?" Aaron asked Blair.

Blair smiled and pulled on the base of the bed and a bed slid out. "Hassleberry pulled a few strings and got you a bed with a bed inside of it. So we can keep an eye on you if we need to." Blair said smiling at him.

Aaron groaned a little bit; he knew that he would not survive the next few days with Blair. He began formulating a plan for escape, so that he would not be trapped in his room with Blair keeping a constant eye on him; Aaron liked Blair, but he needed to be able to get out of his room to do things. With Blair living in his room, he would have trouble doing that because she would want to keep an eye on him to make sure that he did not hurt himself or get in to trouble.


	46. Chapter 45

Aaron woke up in the middle of the night and carefully got out of his bed making sure not to wake Blair. Just then, Aaron's TV came on and Encryption started speaking. "Where are you going?" He asked looking at Aaron who grew uneasy as Blair started to stir.

"Look, just be quiet. I need to go take care of something." Aaron said heading for the door.

Encryption was not satisfied with Aaron's answer. "Blair, wake up. Aaron's trying to escape." He said loudly which woke Blair up. Aaron panicked he was about to run out the door, but Blair tackled him to the ground.

"Go back to bed." She ordered him. Aaron reluctantly agreed after he shot Encryption a dirty look and cursed under his breath.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on him." Blair told Encryption as he powered off. Blair also went back to bed.

A few days passed and Blair decided to go back to her dorm. Aaron was happy that he had his room back, but at the same time he was a little sad not to have her company. "You miss her?" Encryption asked one day as Aaron was working on his computer.

"A little bit." Aaron admitted as he went back to work on his computer.

"You should tell her. When you weren't around we talked a lot about you. She really likes you, and she wants you to be more open with her." Encryption told Aaron who looked up from his computer.

"If she knew everything about me, she wouldn't want to be with me." Aaron told the program who had a buffering sign on his screen showing that he was in deep thought.

Encryption eventually stopped buffering and began speaking. "According to the school calendar, spring break is in a few weeks and everyone will be going home for a few weeks."

"What? You want me to take her back to my hometown and show her where I grew up and show her all of the places I was beaten up, neglected, and bullied, and then show her all of the people who did that to me?" Aaron asked Encryption quizzically.

"Yes, then she'll have a better understanding of how you grew up, and she may even learn how you think and respect your wishes to keep secrets. If that fails you can still say that you guys had a romantic vacation together." Encryption said putting the situation in the best possible light for Aaron.

"Am I going to be able to leave you here?" Aaron asked eyeing Encryption suspiciously.

"I know that I did a lot of bad stuff, but I promise that ever since you rebooted me, all of the evil has been removed from my code." Encryption told Aaron with a tone of honesty. Aaron decided to trust the computer program considering everything that Encryption had done for him since Aaron did save his life, and he pledged his loyalty to Aaron.

It was Saturday night, and Aaron decided to take Blair out to dinner for everything she had done for him and for putting up with everything that he put her through. "Thanks for taking me out like this." Blair said as she took a sip from her glass.

"I kind of owe you for helping take care of me and keeping me out of trouble." Aaron told her as he smiled briefly.

"It's no problem." Blair said smiling back.

"I need to ask you something." Aaron said a little uneasily.

"Go for it." Blair said trying to comfort Aaron a little bit.

"I know that you want to know more about my life, and I've thought this over a lot. I was wondering if you wanted to come spend spring break with me, in my hometown." Aaron asked her.

"Sure, I'd love to get to know more about you. Plus I can meet your parents and all of your friends." Blair said excitedly.

"Yeah, friends." Aaron muttered under his breath. Aaron and Blair finished their dinner and returned to their dorms for the night. In a few weeks, Blair would go with Aaron to spend a few weeks in his hometown. Blair was excited about going to see where Aaron grew up while he was dreading the return to the place where he had spent most of his life trying to leave.

He decided that he would message Orwin about his visit; it would be nice to have one friendly face around him. His parents weren't exactly supportive of his dueling, and when he came back Aaron knew he would be getting a lecture on how they were disappointed with him and how he should get a real job.


	47. Chapter 46

Aaron was on a boat staring out at the sea; he was dreading the visit with his parents. Ever since Aaron had started dueling, his parents had started treating him differently. His parents kept telling him that dueling was childish and a waste of time, yet Aaron continued dueling despite their constant criticisms.

Blair saw Aaron staring and thinking deeply; she stood next to him and brought him out of his trance. "What's on your mind?" Blair asked.

"My parents aren't exactly for me dueling. They think it's a waste of time, and I'm afraid bringing you with me is a mistake. This whole vacation is going to be them nagging me to get a real job, and they are going to try and get you to agree with them." Aaron sighed.

"I would never do that. And if there's something that I can do to help, just tell me." Blair said smiling at Aaron.

"I need you to do whatever I tell you. If you want my parents to like you then you'll do it. They're highly critical of anything I do and anyone I associate with." Aaron told her with some uneasiness.

"If that's what it takes." Blair said hugging Aaron who smiled briefly at the comforts of his girlfriend.

After the long boat ride, Blair and Aaron carried their bags to a taxi that was waiting for them; Aaron's parents' house was about an hour away, so they had some time to talk in the taxi. "So how'd you get in to dueling if you're parents were so against it?" Blair asked curiously.

Aaron thought back on his past as he began speaking. "It started when I was about eight years old. My hometown was relatively small, but the people who lived there were fairly wealthy. All of the kids at school had decks and duel disks except for me. I asked my parents for them, but they said that it was a waste of money and time. The town only had one card shop that sold cards, decks, duel disks, and other dueling accessories. I would walk in to that store every day and look at the cards and duel disks even though I had no money to buy them. The shopkeeper was a pretty nice guy and didn't seem to mind that I was always looking around. One day he asked me if I wanted to help around the store, and I said yes. I would sweep the floors and help clean up in the backroom. Every day when I finished, the shopkeeper would ask if there was a card that I wanted. I always told him 'that nothing caught my eye'. I would come back each day and help him clean the store and he would always ask that same question."

"If you didn't take any cards, then how did you get in to dueling?" Blair asked growing a little impatient, but still drawn in a little by the story.

"I'm almost there. Plus we won't be there for another half hour, so can I please finish?" Aaron asked Blair who nodded her head. "I was cleaning the backroom one day, and I came across a dusty old box sitting in the corner. Having the curiosity of an eight year old, I opened the box. Inside it were a bunch of cards and resting on top was Emes the Infinity. I don't really know what it was, but the card seemed to call out for me. I held the card in both of my hands and turned around to see the shopkeeper standing there. He saw me holding the card and said, 'If you're going to keep that card then you should have a deck and duel disk to go with it.' He then dusted off another box and pulled out a duel disk and a basic starter deck. He told me to consider it a gift for all of the work that I'd been doing for him. I thanked him and excitedly ran out of the store with my new deck and duel disk."

"So, you started dueling, and your parents hated it, and then you started to despise them?" Blair asked.

"Not quite." Aaron continued. "I brought the duel disk and cards home and my parents didn't really care because they thought that I paid for them with my own money. Of course, the next day I started dueling, and I actually won quite a few duels and had a genuinely good time. There were these older kids that always hung out by the card shop and one of them challenged me to a duel, but they played by the ante rule. You know when you both offer up your rarest card and the winner takes the loser's card?" Blair nodded her head.

Aaron sighed at this part. "I wagered Emes the Infinity, and I won. Those guys were so shocked that another one of them challenged me. I beat him too and took his card. I won't lie to you. I got a rush from dueling under the ante rule. I loved it, and I beat all of them and took their cards. Their leader asked me to hang out with them, and of course I said yes. Being asked to hang out with the older kids automatically made you cool. I always dueled against people that they arranged for me to duel. Little did I know that they were betting on me and shaking down the other kid. I tried to quit, but when I tried they beat me up and told me that I wasn't allowed to quit. That's when my parents thought dueling was dangerous because I was essentially in a gang. I didn't listen to my parents, and I did my best to avoid those guys, but the ante rule had given me a rush that I wasn't going to let go of. I continued dueling under the ante rule and winning. I eventually had an unstoppable deck that no one could match. Orwin has it now. I craved more high stakes duels. I started dueling for cards and money. That's how I was able to afford my current duel disk. Those bullies didn't forget about me though. Every time I ran in to them, they beat me up for ditching them. At one point, they had power over every kid in town who dueled except for me. This angered them, and tons of kids started ganging up on me to duel, and I started saying no. They beat me up even more when I said no. This continued in to high school until I met Orwin, and then I went to the academy." Aaron finished his story.

"Sounds like you had a pretty rough time growing up, but I'm glad that you're here now." Blair said causing Aaron to smile a little bit.

"We're here." The taxi driver said as he pulled up by the curb.


	48. Chapter 47

Aaron and Blair got out of the taxi dressed in casual clothing; Aaron was wearing black jeans and an open, worn black leather jacket that showed a gray t-shirt underneath. Blair was wearing blue shorts and a red sweatshirt with puffballs on the strings that tightened the hood. Aaron carried his and Blair's bags to the front door of the house; the house was fairly large and made of stone with an expensive looking car in the driveway.

Blair saw all of the elaborate wealth and was slightly shocked. Aaron saw the shock on her face. "Yes, my parents are rich, but they only gave me the basic necessities and anything good for my education. Orwin got me in to the academy and he got me a scholarship. My parents refused to pay for me to go to a dueling college. Oh, and you should probably put that duel disk in your bag." Aaron told her as he eyed it on her arm.

Blair did as she was told, but she looked at Aaron's arm where his duel disk was. "What about your duel disk?" She asked.

"Don't worry about that. They already think that I'm a disgrace to the family name." Aaron told her as he rang the door bell.

A man with jet black hair and green eyes wearing a gray suit answered the door; standing next to him was a woman with brown hair and brown eyes wearing a purple dress as well as several pieces of jewelry. "Welcome home, son." The man said who Blair recognized to be Aaron's father, and she assumed the woman standing next to him was his mother.

"It's so glad to have you home." Aaron's mother said as she hugged him. She looked at Blair and smiled. "Are you going to introduce us to your friend?" She asked.

"Mom, Dad, this is my girlfriend, Blair." Aaron told them. Aaron went to go unpack the bags while Blair sat with Aaron's parents in the living room. Blair was sitting on a couch while Aaron's mother sat down a tray of tea. Blair was looking around the room, and on the mantle she saw a large family portrait with Aaron's parents and Aaron in the middle wearing a black tuxedo while his father wore the same outfit and his mother wore a large red dress; Aaron looked to be eleven years old in the picture.

Blair was sipping a cup of tea when Aaron walked in to the room and took a seat next to her. "Are you going to take that thing off?" Aaron's father asked motioning to the duel disk on his arm.

"No, I'm not." Aaron told him raising his voice slightly.

"Can you two please not start this now?" Aaron's mother asked glaring at them.

"Yeah, sure thing." Aaron said angrily as he stood up and headed for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" His father asked glaring at him.

"Anywhere but here." Aaron said as he stormed off.

Blair was about to follow after Aaron, but Aaron's mother stopped her. "Don't worry about him. You just got here, relax a little bit." Aaron's mother said.

"Aren't you worried about him?" Blair asked.

"Initially yes, but sadly he just won't listen to us anymore. We only want what's best for him, but all he wants to do is be a disobedient ruffian." Aaron's father said clenching his fist.

"It's just something we've come to accept, dear." Aaron's mother said sighing. Blair wasn't too happy about their answer, but she didn't know where Aaron would go, so she stayed behind and decided to look around Aaron's old room.

Aaron's room wasn't very special; it had everything that a teenager might have. There were some posters on the wall, a closet full of clothes, a desk with a computer, and a small bookshelf. Blair walked over to the bookshelf and began looking for clues on where Aaron might be; sadly, she found nothing.


	49. Chapter 48

Aaron had his hands in his pockets as he walked through the town that he grew up in. Nothing really seemed to have change since Aaron left. Aaron saw a group of kids who seemed to be following him. He ran trying to get away from them, but they followed him in to an alley where he was cornered.

"Look who's back in town. I thought we'd never see you again, Aaron." One of them sneered cracking his knuckles.

"I'm not going to duel you guys. Besides I'd win." Aaron said staring at them.

"Oh, we know that you can beat us in a duel, but we can always beat you up." One of them said pulling a switchblade from his pocket.

"Yeah, well I've changed since I left this town." Aaron said as his ring glowed. Aaron called out the power of his ring as he was encased in armor made from the Orichalcos stones and activated Sword of the Orichalcos. The group lunged at Aaron and began attacking him; Aaron withstood their brutal attack and slashed them with his sword. By the time that Aaron walked away, the people who attacked him were unconscious while Aaron limped out of the alley with several cuts and bruises on his face and body.

Aaron walked in to the nearby pawnshop where weird and unusual items popped up from time to time, as well as rare cards and other things. Aaron browsed around and saw a few stolen duel disks, some jewelry, and a few other items. Aaron looked in to a glass case where something unusual caught his eye; it appeared to be an Orichalcos stone. Aaron asked the shopkeeper, a chubby, bald man who seemed to have a sketchy atmosphere to him, to pull the stone out of the case. Aaron held the stone in his hand and watched it give off a small glow.

"How much?" Aaron asked holding the stone in his hand.

"That old paperweight? Five bucks." The shopkeeper told Aaron. Aaron quickly handed him a five dollar bill and walked out of the store still holding the stone.

Aaron's ring began speaking. "Another Orichalcos stone shall grant you more power when the time is right." Aaron put the ring in his jacket pocket as he started walking home, but not before stopping at the local convenience store to get something to eat; they had some of the best food in town.

It was eight o'clock when Aaron got home; his parents were sitting in the living room waiting for him. "You missed dinner." His father growled.

"I got something to eat." Aaron muttered.

"That's not the point. Dinner is family time and whether you like it or not, you are part of this family." His father said slightly angered.

"Your father is right. I think you owe us an apology." Aaron's mother said crossing her arms.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be the son that you wanted." Aaron said sarcastically as he walked upstairs to his room where Blair was sitting on his bed flipping through a photo album.

"You were such a cute kid." Blair said holding up one of the pictures.

"My mom gave that to you, didn't she?" Aaron asked sitting down next to her. Blair nodded her head.

"So where did you go?" Blair asked looking at Aaron's cuts and bruises.

"I went to town and ran in to some old enemies. I guess you can assume what happened next." Aaron said as he laid down on the bed.

"Did this always happen to you?" She asked stroking his hair.

"Up until I met Orwin. He gave me safety, a job, and someone to look up to." Aaron sighed as he reminisced about his past. Blair and Aaron talked for a little while until Aaron fell asleep. Blair went to her room and got ready for bed.

She didn't tell Aaron about how his parents had tried convincing her to convince Aaron to stop dueling and get a real job like Aaron had told her. Based on what Aaron knew, Blair assumed that Aaron already knew that they would try to convince her to convince him. Even though they had made good points on how Aaron had always been getting hurt during duels and how they were just worried about him, she knew that Aaron would not listen to them; those things never stopped him before.


	50. Chapter 49

Aaron woke up in the morning to Blair sitting on his bed and rubbing his shoulder. "What?" Aaron asked groggily rubbing his eyes.

"I've been thinking about this. I think I should tell you that your parents tried convincing me to convince you to stop dueling." Blair said.

"I knew that would happen. What else happened?" Aaron asked sitting himself up.

"I told them that I duel, and they're actually fine with that. They just want you to stop dueling." Blair told him.

"Well, you can tell them to get off my back." Aaron responded angrily as he stood up and started getting dressed. Blair left the room to go downstairs while Aaron finished getting ready. When Aaron went downstairs, Blair was already eating breakfast, while Aaron's father was reading the newspaper, and his mother was wearing an apron and setting a plate of food in Aaron's spot.

Aaron thanked her for breakfast as he started eating. "So what are you two going to do today?" Aaron's father asked in an unusually pleasant tone.

"We're going to the museum to see Orwin." Aaron told him as he resumed eating.

"Why do you have to spend so much time with that old coot?" Aaron's father asked.

"First off, he's pretty smart. Second, you're almost as old as him. Third, he's more supportive of me then you'll ever be." Aaron said as he pushed his plate aside and stood up.

"Wait there, young man. It's not that I don't support you. It's that I don't support you wasting your life with stupid games." His father barked.

"Whatever." Aaron said as he and Blair headed for the door.

As soon as Aaron and Blair left, his father looked at his mother. "Don't worry about him. I'll get him to realize that dueling is pointless." His father said as he began flipping through the contents on his cell phone.

Aaron sat next to Blair on the bus as they talked a little bit. Blair asked what Aaron's parents did for a living, and Aaron told her that his father was a banker and his mother was also a banker. When they arrived at the museum, the receptionist immediately recognized Aaron and called Orwin down.

"Ahh, Aaron, it's so good to see you again. And this must be Blair. She looks exactly like you described her in your emails. It's very nice to meet you." Orwin said as he shook Blair's hand.

"Orwin, I have something that you might want to see. Can we go in to your office?" Aaron asked looking around. Orwin saw Aaron's anxiety and led them to his office.

"So what do you have for me?" Orwin asked Aaron who reached in to his pocket and produced a stone that he handed to Orwin.

Orwin quickly began examining the stone. "This is an Orichalcos stone. Where did you get this?" Orwin asked holding up the stone.

"That shady pawnshop in my town sold it to me for five bucks." Aaron told him.

"Quite the steal. You better hold on to that." Orwin said handing the stone back to him.

Just then, Aaron's cell phone started ringing, it was his father. "What do you want?" Aaron asked angrily.

"You want to prove that you're a great duelist, and not wasting your time and my time?" His father asked.

"Yeah, so?" Aaron asked ready to hang up.

"Tomorrow night, I have arranged a duel for you against a pro-circuit duelist. If you win, then I'll get off your case and support your dueling. If you lose, then you'll give up dueling and come work for me. Deal?" His father asked.

"I want that in writing." Aaron said coldly.

Aaron's father chuckled. "You have learned something from me. I'll have the contract drawn up and we'll both sign it tonight." Aaron agreed as his father hung up.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Blair asked. She had been listening to the conversation between Aaron and his father.

"I don't have much of a choice. Plus, I don't plan on losing." Aaron said clenching his fist.

"I wish you the best of luck." Orwin said bidding Aaron and Blair farewell. Aaron and Blair returned back to Aaron's house where his father was waiting with the contracts to be signed. Aaron read over the contract carefully making sure that his father wouldn't pull any tricks. Aaron then signed the contract after all of the necessary modifications had been made. Aaron then went to bed knowing that he would have a big day tomorrow.


	51. Chapter 50

**50th chapter of A New Student a New Power. This is a big milestone for me, and this is my most read story. I would like to thank all of my supporters for inspiring me to keep working on this story, and I would greatly appreciate it if you could take the time to write a review of this story or if you really like it to favorite it or follow it. If you want to talk about an OC appearing in the story please message me; I would be more than happy to discuss an OC appearing in my story.**

 **Thanks for reading -TranscodeNightCat**

Aaron spent the majority of his day preparing for his duel. Sadly, Orwin could not make it because he had to go to a museum banquet; Blair on the other hand was eager to support Aaron during his duel. When the time came, Aaron found himself in the dining room which had been cleared to form a small dueling arena.

"Where's my opponent?" Aaron asked glaring at his father who smiled.

"Here he is now." Aaron's father said when a man wearing a red, white, and blue bandana walked in to the room. "This is Bandit Keith, your opponent." Aaron's father said smiling.

"Your pop said that I get fifty g's if I win. Plus he gave me twenty-five to get some new cards." Bandit Keith said as he powered on his duel disk.

Aaron had read about Bandit Keith for being a notorious cheater and a user of machine types; clearly chosen as an intimidation tactic by his father. Aaron powered on his duel disk and the duel began with 4000 life points each.

Keith started by drawing a card. "I summon one monster in facedown defense mode and play one card facedown." Keith said ending his turn.

Aaron drew a card. "I summon Slate Warrior in attack mode. Slate Warrior, attack his facedown." Aaron cringed when he saw the facedown flip over to reveal Blast Sphere, and it equipped itself on to Aaron's monster.

"Next turn, say goodbye to your warrior and your life points." Keith chuckled.

Aaron wasn't phased by the move. "I play Mystical Space Typhoon and destroy your Blast Sphere. I play one card facedown and end my turn."

Keith drew his card. "I activate Call of the Haunted and bring back my Blast Sphere. I tribute my Blast Sphere to summon Machine King. Now Machine King, destroy his Slate Warrior! That cash is as good as mine." Keith chuckled as Aaron's monster was destroyed and his life points fell down to 3600 and his Slate Warrior's ability kicked in reducing his Machine King's attack down to 1800.

Keith ended his turn and Aaron drew his card. "I always have another plan. I summon another Slate Warrior. Now, he'll destroy your Machine King."

Keith interrupted. "Not so fast. I activate DNA Surgery, so now your Slate Warrior is a machine type meaning that my king gains another 100 attack points, so both of our monsters will be destroyed now." Aaron cringed as he watched both monsters destroy themselves. Aaron played one card facedown and ended his turn.

Keith smiled as he drew his card. "I play Monster Reborn and bring back my king. Next, I summon Luster Dragon in attack mode."

"I activate Metal Reflect Slime." Aaron called out revealing his facedown.

"That won't help you kid. I play Limiter Removal and double the attack of all the machine types on my field, and thanks to DNA Surgery all of my monsters are machine types." Aaron cringed as he watched all of the monsters grow stronger.

"Now, Luster Dragon, destroy that slime!" Keith shouted as he watched Aaron's monster get destroyed. "Now, it's time to finish you off and collect my money. Machine King, attack him directly." Keith called out only to be interrupted by Aaron.

"I activate Enchanted Javelin and absorb your Machine King's attack." Aaron felt the brief sensation of gaining life points only for them to be taken away by Keith's attack. Keith ended his turn as he watched all of his monsters be destroyed by Limiter Removal's effect.

Aaron drew his card. "I summon Giant Germ in attack mode. Giant Germ, attack him directly." Aaron said smiling briefly as he watched Keith's life points fall down to 3000. Aaron ended his turn.

"Pitiful mistake, kid." Keith smirked as he drew his card. "I play Premature Burial and bring back my king for 800 life points." Aaron watched as the monster came back, and thanks to DNA Surgery it had 2400 attack. Keith's life points fell down to 2200. "Machine King, destroy that germ." Keith said as the monster destroyed Aaron's monster. Aaron's life points fell down to 2200, but he summoned two more Giant Germs while Keith's life points fell down to 1700 from Giant Germ's effect.

Keith ended his turn while Aaron's ring was glowing vibrantly; Aaron needed to draw a good card or else he would lose this duel. "Toss both the items that resonate with the Orichalcos to the sky, and observe a newer power." The ring said. Aaron pulled the Orichalcos stone from his pocket, and it was also glowing brightly.

"Enough with the light show already!" Keith shouted. Aaron ignored him and tossed the stone and his ring in to the air; both of the items started spinning and a green ball of light formed around the items.

The orb of light floated back down to Aaron and began speaking. "Accept the power." Aaron obeyed and stuck his hand in to the ball of light which burst when Aaron's full hand was enveloped by the light. Aaron looked at his hand and saw a black leather biker glove with an Orichalcos stone embedded on the back of the glove; the stone glowed. "Draw." It commanded while glowing.

Aaron's hand also glowed while he drew his card. "Orichalcum draw!" He shouted drawing his card. Once he drew the card, the glowing stopped; it was the card that he needed. "I tribute my two Giant Germs to summon Emes the Infinity. Next, I equip him with Sword of the Orichalcos. I pay 2100 life points to boost Emes' attack by 4200. Emes destroy his Machine King and finish this duel." Aaron said calmly as his monster attacked Machine King and Keith's life points fell down to zero.

Once the duel ended, Blair hugged Aaron. Aaron then walked over to his father. "A deal's a deal." His father said extending his hand; Aaron reluctantly shook his hand still glaring at him. Aaron then walked out of the room, and got ready for bed; he was happy that his father wouldn't be bothering him anymore. His father on the other hand was not happy and walked over to Keith and began chewing him out for losing the duel.

"I gave you twenty-five thousand dollars to get a new deck and you still lost. Pathetic." Aaron's father said spitting on Keith.

"I'm outta here." Keith said walking out of the room. Aaron's father on the other hand was still unhappy that Aaron could continue dueling freely. Aaron would be heading back to Duel Academy in a few days, so he would be happy to have Aaron out of his hair for a while.


	52. Chapter 51

When Aaron got back to the academy, Jaden and the others talked about their vacations. Hassleberry got bitten by a toxic bug while hiking through the jungle, Jaden, Alexis, Jasmine, Mindy, and Syrus went to the beach, and Jaden got sunburn when he fell asleep in the sun. Chazz went on a cruise and bragged about how many girls' numbers he got on the boat. Aaron and Blair told them about their vacation and about Aaron's duel against Bandit Keith and how his ring turned in to a biker glove.

"Sounds like a sweet vacation." Jaden said smiling. Aaron nodded his head and went back to his dorm exhausted from the boat ride back to the academy.

"Good time?" Encryption asked as Aaron laid down on the bed.

"It wasn't bad." Aaron mumbled as he closed his eyes. When Aaron woke up the next day, he took a shower and got dressed; he had bought some new clothes while he was back home. Aaron also hung up a few new charts and diagrams that Orwin had given him.

Aaron's day wasn't very eventful, but when he went to bed he found himself having another restless night of sleep. Encryption kept asking where Aaron was going, but he gave no answer as he walked out of the room. It was dark out when Aaron was walking around; he knew that it was against school policy to be out at night for no reason, but he did it anyway. Aaron walked to the cliffs, and was shocked when he saw a motor boat docked on the rocks, but there were no remains of people on the boat which made Aaron a little uneasy.

Aaron walked through the woods back to his dorm; he kept hearing noises which made him uneasy because they were too loud to be those of an animal. Aaron walked to the front of his dorm only to be hit over the head by a shady figure. Aaron looked up to see the hooded figure who hit him as well as several others surround Aaron. Aaron was caught off guard and had no time to call upon the power of the Orichalcos. They began punching and kicking him in the side. One of them removed Aaron's duel disk and another took his PDA and threw it in to the river; they just tossed his duel disk to the side.

Once they grew tired of beating up Aaron, he was covered in cuts, bruises, dried blood, and his voice was too hoarse from screaming to speak. They then dragged Aaron in to the woods and left him there. All that Aaron saw was a tattoo that came from a local gang in his hometown. Aaron saw them head back to their boat where they took off. Aaron groaned in pain as he passed out from all of the pain of his injuries.


	53. Chapter 52

Hassleberry was doing his usual morning jog and was currently running through the woods. His mornings were normally quiet, but he heard movement in the bushes. He cautiously approached the bushes and saw Aaron lying there, bruised, shivering, and without his duel disk. "No soldier left behind." Hassleberry said as he easily lifted Aaron over his shoulder. Hassleberry started running to the academy building with Aaron over his shoulder and his PDA in his other hand; he was calling the others. "Guys, Aaron's in really bad shape. I'm running to the main building now. Make sure that someone knows that were coming." Hassleberry said before hanging up.

Aaron started stirring and groaning in pain as he felt the movement and started waking up. "Don't worry Aaron. We're going to get you some help." Hassleberry said picking up some speed.

"Where's my duel disk?" Aaron asked eyeing his arm where it usually rested.

"I don't know, but that should be the least of your worries. You need help right now." Hassleberry told him.

"I need my duel disk." Aaron groaned in pain.

"I'm sure that we'll find it, but your health is more important than dueling." Hassleberry said as he made it to the front of the school where a stretcher and several paramedics were waiting alongside Blair, Jaden, Syrus, and Alexis.

Hassleberry put Aaron down on the stretcher while one of the paramedics quickly did a preliminary examination. "It's a good thing that you brought him in when you did. He has some pretty serious injuries that would only get worse."

"He'll be okay, right?" Blair asked standing by Aaron's side.

"He'll be fine. He'll just be really sore for a while. Right now, he needs some rest and close monitoring." The paramedic said pushing the stretcher only for Aaron to motion for him to stop.

"Find my duel disk. Please." Aaron said hoarsely before closing his eyes.

"I promise that we'll find it. I hate to see a duelist without their deck." Jaden said making a fist. The paramedics carried Aaron to the infirmary where they were going to check him in and start treating his injuries.

"Let's go find his duel disk." Jaden said to his friends and his Winged Kuriboh duel spirit who all nodded their heads as they followed Hassleberry to where he found Aaron. After about a half hour of searching, Jaden's Winged Kuriboh had led them to where it found Aaron's duel disk. Jaden picked it up and examined it; it was completely intact. "Let's get this back to Aaron." Jaden said as he and his friends started walking back to the infirmary.

Jaden walked over to Aaron who was sitting up in his bed covered in bandages and handed him his duel disk. "Here you go." Jaden said sitting it in Aaron's lap.

"Thanks." Aaron said as he removed the deck from the holder.

"What are you doing?" Alexis asked.

Aaron sorted through a few of the cards and removed a few of them. He handed the remaining majority of the deck to Alexis. "Can you mail this to Orwin for me?" He asked.

"Why would you send him your deck? That's a part of you." Jaden said confused.

"Like me, my deck needs to grow. Right now a fresh start is best, so when I get out of here I'm going to build a new deck." Aaron said.

"I hope that I'll get to duel you soon." Jaden said smiling.

"Maybe." Aaron sighed.

"I'll go get this mailed." Alexis said walking out of the room with the deck in her hand.

Blair kicked everyone else out of the room while she sat by Aaron's bed. "Who did this to you?" She asked sternly.

Aaron sighed and unwrapped one of the bandages on his arm. There was a large cut that had been drawn in to a weird shape. "This is the mark of a local gang in my town. They carved it on to my arm to show who did this to me. They are a bunch of underground duelists who cheat and take people's cards. When I took some of their cards in a few duels, they grew angry with me and swore to have revenge on me. Sadly this is not the first time that something like this has happened to me. I guess going back home irritated them that I had the nerve to go in to their territory openly." Aaron said covering the wound back up.

"Why don't you go to the police?" Blair asked.

"Their gang is only a small part of a larger organization of crime. While dueling is a big thing, they also have thieves, gamblers, and dirty cops in their pockets. The cops don't help me sadly." Aaron said groaning.

"I better let you get some rest." Blair said kissing Aaron's cheek causing him to wince from the sting of the bruise on his face. "Sorry about that." Blair said.

"Don't worry about it." Aaron said as he closed his eyes to rest.


	54. Chapter 53

Aaron's time in the infirmary went by slowly for him. He had a cast on his leg and bandages on his arms and torso. Aaron was denied being allowed to move out of his bed unless he was being pushed in a wheelchair. Blair kept feeding Aaron and trying to keep him company, but day after day he grew more irritable. One day Blair held up the spoon to Aaron's mouth only for him to snap. "I'm so tired of this. I'm not hungry." Aaron said angrily pushing the spoon back.

"I'm sorry." Blair said nervously watching the anger growing on his face quickly disappear and turn to sincerity.

"I'm sorry. You shouldn't be sorry. You were just trying to help. I need to go." Aaron said reaching for the crutches by his bed and standing up.

"You can't go. Nurse Fontaine says that you still need to rest." Blair said pushing him back on to the bed.

"I'm sorry, but I need to do this." Aaron said groaning as he stood back up and looked Blair in the eyes with determination on his face that was fighting the pain on the inside.

"Just be careful. Please." Blair said knowing that she could not stop Aaron, only remind him about the condition that he was in.

Aaron looked at her with seriousness and sincerity in his eyes. "I'll try." He said reaching for the crutches again. Aaron grabbed them and stood back up and made his way to the door and out of the academy. Aaron got back to his room and locked the door; he sat down at his desk chair and sat his crutches aside.

"Aren't you still supposed to be in the infirmary?" Encryption asked confused.

"I left early." Aaron said coldly.

"Well I suggest that you go back. You need to be closely monitored." Encryption said earning him a dirty look from Aaron.

"Keep your suggestions to yourself. I need to think right now." Aaron said struggling as he reached under his desk and pulled out a large and heavy box.

"Building a new deck. This should be interesting." Encryption said as he watched Aaron open the trunk and begin looking through the cards.

"It's time for a new start." Aaron said laying Emes and the Orichalcos cards on the desk.

"You said new deck. Why don't you mix it up and ditch the Orichalcos and try something else?" Encryption suggested.

"Like?" Aaron asked staring at the monitor with suspicion.

"Like this." Encryption said as the monitor started glowing. A white rectangle appeared on the screen as a cybernetic pattern ran through it until a card materialized. Aaron picked it up; it was Encryption's ace, Decoder Worm.

"Keep it." Aaron growled tossing the card back at the monitor where it was sucked in.

"Very well, but it's here if you need it." Encryption said as Aaron began going through his cards and picking through ones that he liked.

Aaron took what Encryption had said and hobbled over to his closet where he pulled out his mask. "Not worth it" He thought to himself as he stared at it for a little bit before putting it back in the briefcase. "I'll work on it tomorrow." Aaron sighed as he limped over to his bed and landed on it with a loud thud as he quickly fell asleep.

The next week Aaron kept himself locked in his room with the blinds closed; he was determined to create a new deck. Aaron put together five new decks; he shuffled each one and drew the top five cards. He scowled at the hand and threw the hand and the deck at the wall. "You have it yet?" Encryption asked teasing him.

"Shut up." Aaron said angrily as he hobbled over and picked up the cards and began going through all of them again.

Aaron hadn't eaten in a while and he heard a knock at the door. "Aaron, can we come in?" Aaron heard Blair's voice ask.

"I'm not decent." Aaron called out. He wasn't lying either. He hadn't left his room in days, he hadn't showered, and he had been wearing the same pajamas for days now.

"Can we still come in? We brought you something to eat." Alexis said.

"Just leave it by the door." Aaron said as he continued going through his cards.

"I guess he's not coming out." Blair sighed.

"Maybe he just needs to be alone right now. Let's just leave the food by the door and see what happens." Alexis said motioning to a corner in the hallway that they ducked behind.

Aaron heard the two girls walk away. He limped over to the door and cracked it open wide enough for him to peek his head through. Aaron looked around cautiously and then looked down to see the tray with a plate of food and a glass of milk. Aaron looked around once more and picked up the tray and went back in to his room where he sat at his desk with the tray. Aaron picked up the note sitting on the tray.

 _Hope that you're feeling better. I thought that you might need something to eat. –Blair_

Aaron smiled at Blair's thoughtfulness as he picked up the utensils and began eating; the food was very good, and it tasted even better to Aaron who had not eaten in a while. Aaron cleaned the plate and drank the entire glass of milk. He picked up the note and scribbled something on it before putting the tray out in the hallway.

Alexis and Blair walked over when they saw Aaron briefly as he sat the tray in the hall. "I guess you were right about him being hungry." Alexis said as she eyed the empty plate. "It also looks like he left you a note."

"Let me see it." Blair said grabbing the note from Alexis.

 _Thanks for taking care of me when I've been so disrespectful and secluded. I promise that when I come out of here I'll be better. –Aaron_

"I hope so." Blair thought to herself as she held the note to her chest and breathed deeply. She and Alexis grabbed the tray and walked off; Blair slipped the note in to her pocket and checked on it every few minutes to make sure that it was there.


	55. Chapter 54

**I have not published a new chapter for this story in a little while. I am sorry about that, but I have been busy with school and work, and if you couldn't tell, several other fanfictions that I have recently been publishing. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this chapter. Also, if you want you can recommend and OC to appear in the story. Sketchywolf's OC, Markus Muto has appeared in this story a few times. If you have an OC that you want in this story just message me, and we can talk about it. I am always open to suggestions. Thanks for reading.-TranscodeNightCat**

After two more weeks in his room, Aaron held up the new deck that he had just finished building; it was the thirteenth deck that he had built since being locked up in his room. All of them had been promising decks, but every time Aaron would draw the top five cards he would frown and take the deck apart feeling that something was not right about it. "Hopefully this one works." Aaron said to himself as he shuffled the deck, took a deep breath, and drew the top five cards from his deck. Aaron looked at the hand and smiled; he put the hand back in to his deck and shuffled it once more drawing five cards again and smiled. Aaron did this thirteen times, for the number of decks that he built and smiled at every hand. "This is the one." Aaron said sitting the deck next to his duel disk and walking in to the bathroom where he proceeded to clean himself up.

Aaron took a long shower making sure that there were no traces of dirt or grime left on his body. When Aaron got out of the shower, he brushed his teeth and looked at his hair which was now a lot longer than it had been before. Aaron searched for some clean clothes and finally found a shirt and pair of pants that didn't smell too bad. Aaron piled his bedding and clothes in to a large laundry basket which he carried to the laundry room. Aaron saw no one else in the laundry room, so he stripped of his remaining clothes and tossed them in with the wash. Aaron then went to a nearby closet and grabbed some cleaning supplies as he attacked his room with a can of air freshener and several other disinfectants and cleaners until he was sure that his room looked better than when he first locked himself in there. After that, Aaron finished up with his laundry and made his bed and folded and put away all of his clothes while also making sure to put on some clean clothes. "You don't look too bad. Now you just need a haircut." Encryption said as Aaron wiped down his monitor which Aaron had drawn several crude pictures on when Encryption annoyed him.

"I know. Don't make me want to draw on you again." Aaron said moving the bangs from his eyes.

Aaron strapped his duel disk to his arm and walked out of his room to see Blair and Alexis standing there where Blair practically jumped in to his arms as she hugged him. "How are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm fine, but I could use a haircut." Aaron said breaking the hug with Blair.

"I think I can help with that." Alexis told him as she called Jasmine and Mindy on her PDA who practically crashed in to Aaron as they ran to the dorm with all of their beauty supplies. Jasmine sat Aaron by his desk chair and tied a sheet over his clothes as Mindy began setting up her supplies and grabbing a pair of scissors as she ran her fingers through Aaron's hair. "Don't go overboard." Alexis reminded them.

"Don't worry. We're just giving him a haircut." Jasmine said. "So what kind of haircut do you want?" Jasmine asked.

"Just make it short, but not too short." Aaron told her. Jasmine and Mindy smiled and started cutting his hair while Blair and Alexis sat on Aaron's bed and watched them work. By the time that they were done, Aaron's hair looked almost exactly like it did before except for the fact that they had combed it. Jasmine and Mindy quickly packed up their stuff and left.

"I take it that you're behind on your schoolwork?" Blair asked.

"Actually no. I've been getting all my work done online, and the teachers don't really seem to mind." Aaron told her as he pointed to his computer which currently displayed a video feed to one of his classes that was currently offline. "I won't need that anymore." Aaron said closing the window and shutting off his computer.

"So everything's back to normal?" Alexis asked.

"For the most part. I'll see you guys in class tomorrow." Aaron said motioning for them to leave his room. They did as they were told, but not before Blair gave Aaron a hug and a kiss.

Aaron laid down in his bed and fell asleep; despite all of his time being locked up in his room, Aaron had not been sleeping well. Aaron was sleeping soundly, but sadly he still woke up in the middle of the night out of impulse. Aaron grabbed his duel disk and deck and walked out of the room ignoring Encryption who kept asking where he was going.

Aaron walked over to the cliffs and began tossing rocks in to the water watching them fall and splash. Aaron then pulled out his deck and looked at the cards that he had selected. He was nervous about trying a new deck, but at the same time he knew that it would be for the best as he looked at each card. Aaron shuffled his deck and placed it in to his duel disk as he powered it on. Aaron drew the top five cards and played them. He sent them to the graveyard and continued drawing cards until he had drawn and played his entire deck. Aaron removed the cards from his graveyard and held the deck in his hand as he shuffled the cards before putting them away and walking back to his dorm. Aaron got in to his bed, but not before looking over the new deck. He was worried about it not working for him. "I need to duel someone. I need to know if it works. I need to do it soon." Aaron thought to himself as he fell asleep in his bed while tossing and turning tormented by his deck which just sat on his desk.


	56. Chapter 55

The next day, Aaron returned to class where he was greeted eagerly by several teachers and students. Aaron's outfit had changed; he now wore the same black jeans, but he also sported a gray t-shirt and a black leather jacket that was unzipped. Aaron paid no attention to them. "I want a real challenge. I'm going to challenge a real duelist." Aaron thought to himself as he finished up his last class and walked out of the room.

"I heard that you have a new deck, Aaron. Maybe we can duel?" Jaden asked smiling.

"Sorry, but not right now." Aaron said coldly as he clenched his fists and walked off. Aaron walked to Chancellor Sheppard's office; the assistant was sitting at his desk typing on his keyboard. "Is the chancellor in?" Aaron asked staring him directly in the eye with a cold stare.

"Yes, but he's not seeing students right now." He said looking up from his computer briefly before returning to typing.

"It's important." Aaron said clenching his fist slightly irritated by him.

"I'm sorry, but he's not seeing students right now." He repeated.

Aaron activated the Orichalcos and played Sword of the Orichalcos. Aaron held the blade up to the assistant's neck. "Check the schedule again." Aaron said still holding the blade up to his neck.

"Oh look, something just opened up." The assistant said motioning for Aaron to go inside.

"Don't even think about calling security." Aaron said glaring at the assistant who was pushing some buttons on his phone until Aaron picked up the cord connecting the phone line and cut it with his sword. Aaron walked in to the chancellor's office and deactivated his sword.

Chancellor Sheppard was currently on the phone talking to someone when Aaron walked in; he pushed the end call button causing the Chancellor to set the phone down as he looked at Aaron who stared at him coldly. "What can I help you with my boy?" He asked nervously as Aaron just stared at him.

"You're going to get me a duel with Seto Kaiba." Aaron said coldly.

"I don't know if I can just get you a duel. He is a very busy man." Chancellor Sheppard answered nervously.

"Well then, I'll just have to duel you." Aaron said powering on his duel disk. "And if I win, you get me a duel with Seto Kaiba or I'll be taking matters in to my own hands." Aaron told him.

"Very well then." The Chancellor said powering on his duel disk knowing that he had no other option in the matter.

The duel began with 4000 life points each. "I'll let you go first." Chancellor Sheppard said.

Aaron drew his card. "I play Wave-Motion Cannon, next I play one card facedown, and one monster in facedown defense mode. Your move." Aaron said coldly.

Chancellor Sheppard drew his card. "Since you have a monster on your field and I don't, I can special summon Cyber Dragon from my hand. Next, I'll play Proto-Cyber Dragon and since he's on the field, his name becomes Cyber Dragon. I play Polymerization and fuse my dragons to create Cyber Twin Dragon. Cyber Twin Dragon, attack his facedown."

Aaron's facedown flipped over to reveal Night Assailant. "I activate Night Assailant's ability to destroy your dragon." Aaron watched as both monsters were destroyed. Chancellor Sheppard set two cards facedown and ended his turn. Aaron drew his card as one turn passed on his Wave-Motion Cannon. "I play End of the World, and send Ruin, Queen of Oblivion from my hand to summon Demise King of Armageddon. I'll play Rush Recklessly and grant Demise 700 extra attack points. Then I'll activate Wave-Motion Cannon and deal you 1000 points of damage. I'll now activate Demise's ability and pay 2000 life points to wipe the field clear before I finish you off. "Now, Demise, King of Armageddon, finish this guy off." Aaron called out as he watched the chancellor's life points fall to zero.

Aaron walked over to Chancellor Sheppard who was lying on the floor. "I still don't know if I can get you the duel." He said looking up at Aaron who was staring coldly at him.

"Then here's what you're going to do. You're going to get me a helicopter ride to the roof of Kaibacorp, and I'll do the rest. And if you don't do that, then I will be your worst nightmare." Aaron said calling upon the power of the Sword of the Orichalcos and holding the blade up to the Chancellor's neck menacingly.

"I'll make the arrangements." The chancellor said nervously as he stood up and ran off.

Aaron retracted his sword and walked out of the office. "Did you get everything that you needed?" The assistant asked nervously.

"I could use a soda." Aaron said glaring at the assistant who ran off and came back and handed Aaron a can. "Thank you for your help." Aaron said ominously as he walked out of the building.

The assistant ran in to Chancellor Sheppard's office to see if he was alright. "Sir, are you okay?" He asked nervously.

"I'm fine, Terrence. Please put Kaibacorp on the phone. It's urgent." The chancellor said turning his back and looking out the window where he saw Aaron walking away. "I hope that he's okay. It seems like he's not against hurting someone and he could be a threat to the school as well as several others. I wonder what he wants from Seto Kaiba." The Chancellor sighed thinking about all of the possibilities.


	57. Chapter 56

Early in the morning, Aaron stood outside of the chancellor's office dressed in a black leather jacket exposing a gray t-shirt; he also was wearing black jeans. Aaron had a hand in his jacket pocket while the other hand held a brushed aluminum briefcase containing his mask, Encryption's hand, and his ten rare cards; Aaron also had a handheld computer in his pocket which he downloaded Encryption to.

"You think Kaiba will be happy to see you?" Aaron asked.

"Probably not, but that's why I wanted to come." Encryption said.

Three men in black suits and black glasses then walked up to Aaron. "We're ready to go to Kaibacorp when you are." One of them said as he motioned for Aaron to follow him as he put the phone in his pocket. Aaron boarded the helicopter as the rotors started turning and the wind was growing strong.

Chancellor Sheppard watched the helicopter taking off and sighed as he saw Aaron sitting in between two of the men with his briefcase in his lap. "Hopefully you know what you're getting in to." Chancellor Sheppard said to himself as he watched the helicopter fly off.

The helicopter ride didn't take too long for Aaron as they landed at an airport in Domino City. When Aaron got off the helicopter, he was not happy at the sight that he saw. "I told you to take me to the roof of Kaibacorp." Aaron glared at one of the men.

"Sorry sir, but we don't have clearance to land there, but we did manage to get you a taxi to take you to the building." One of them told Aaron who still looked unhappy.

"I'll find my own way there then. I'm not taking a cab." Aaron said coldly as he walked off angrily. Aaron watched the men depart in the helicopter as he pulled out his phone and looked at Encryption. "Why don't we get a limo?" Aaron asked the program as he started walking to the airport terminal. Aaron looked around the terminal and saw several men in suits holding signs for their clients. Aaron saw several for people headed to Kaibacorp and he walked over to one of them with the name "William Blades" written on it. A boy wearing a long blue coat and white hair was talking with the driver.

"Mind giving me a ride to Kaibacorp?" Aaron asked.

"Sure, but you have to beat me in a duel." The boy responded in a British accent but not before introducing himself as William Blades.

"I can do that. By the way, my name's Aaron." Aaron said as he walked to one side of the terminal and powered on his duel disk while William did the same as the duel started with 4000 life points each.

"Sir we're on a schedule." The driver said tugging nervously at his collar.

"Don't worry. This won't take long." William said as the duel began and a small crowd started forming. Aaron looked at the crowd already gathering. "Oh, I probably should have mentioned that I'm on the European pro-circuit." William said smiling as several girls started cheering for him.

"You can go first since you clearly have the audience." Aaron told him.

William drew his card and smiled while winking at several girls who all squealed. "I play Reinforcement of the Army and add one Marauding Captain to my hand. I summon it in attack mode and activate its ability to summon another Marauding Captain from my hand. I end my turn."

Aaron drew his card and carefully examined his hand. "I summon 8-Claws Scorpion. Next I play Book of Moon to change one of your Marauding Captains to facedown defense mode. Now 8-Claws Scorpion will attack your facedown and its ability activates making its attack 2400." Aaron watched one of the captains get destroyed by his card. "Now I activate my scorpion's other ability allowing me to switch it to facedown defense mode. I play two cards facedown and end my turn."

William drew his card. "Impressive maneuver, but sadly not good enough to beat me. I summon one monster in facedown defense mode and play one card facedown and I end my turn."

Aaron drew his card. "I flip my scorpion face up. Now, I'll have it attack your facedown." Aaron cringed when he saw that the facedown was Dandylion. He changed his Scorpion to facedown defense mode and ended his turn.

William smiled as he looked at his hand. "I tribute my two fluff tokens and my Marauding Captain to summon Gilford the Lightning. With his ability, all monsters on your field are wiped out. I'm not going to stop there though. I tribute Gilford the Lightning to special summon Turret Warrior, and with his ability he gains Gilford's attack bringing him up to 4000. Now Turret Warrior, finish him off."

Aaron took the attack with William expecting his life points to hit zero. "I discard my Kuriboh to reduce the battle damage to zero." Aaron said depositing the card in his graveyard. William ended his turn as Aaron drew his card. "I play Brain Control to steal your Turret Warrior."

William waited until Aaron's life points hit 3200 to activate his card. "I play Magic Jammer and discard a card from my hand to negate your spell card."

"I'll activate Seven Tools of the Bandit to negate your Magic Jammer." Aaron responded as his life points fell down to 2200. "Turret Warrior, finish him off!" Aaron shouted as he reduced William's life points down to zero.

"Good game. I'll give you that ride." William said smiling as he shook Aaron's hand.

"Thanks." Aaron replied as he and William followed the driver to the limousine waiting for them. "So what are you going to Kaibacorp for?" Aaron asked as the driver started heading to their destination.

"I'm picking up some rare cards for my sponsor." William said. "So why are you going to Kaibacorp?"

"I have some business with Seto Kaiba." Aaron replied coldly. The two sat in silence until the limo arrived at the front of the building where Aaron and William got out of the limo.

The men at the front desk asked for badges which William promptly presented while Aaron didn't have one. "Can't you guys let him in? He has business with Kaiba." William asked the guards who remained firm.

"Sorry, but we can't let anyone without a badge go past." One of the men said. William said goodbye to Aaron as he got in to the elevator.

Aaron looked over at the receptionists and guards. "Did Chancellor Sheppard mention that I was coming?" Aaron asked leaning on the desk as the receptionist continued typing.

"I'm sorry, but he didn't, and Mr. Kaiba is a very busy man." The receptionist said as she continued typing.

"I'm sorry too." Aaron said as he sat down the briefcase causing the guards to go in to panic as one of them grabbed Aaron; Aaron wasn't strong, but he was agile enough to break free of the guard's grip as he punched him in the gut while more guards started showing up. Aaron quickly opened his briefcase and pulled out Encryption's hand and put it on. Aaron started firing several blasts from the glove knocking the guards back. Aaron wrapped an arm around one of their necks and held the glove up to the side of his head. "Open the elevator and let me see Kaiba or he gets it." Aaron said coldly as one of the guards quickly ran over to one of the elevators and inserted a special key to unlock it. "Thank you." Aaron said as he released the guard and grabbed his briefcase before running in to the elevator. He shot off a warning shot making sure that they would stay back before the doors closed. As the elevator started moving, Aaron pried the glove off of his arm and tucked it back in to his briefcase.

"I'm coming for you Kaiba." Aaron said angrily as he got closer to the top floor.


	58. Chapter 57

Aaron stood in the elevator watching the car climb the floors until he reached the top floor, Seto Kaiba's office. Aaron walked out of the door and saw Kaiba looking outside the window. "I was informed of your arrival by your school's chancellor."

"So you know why I'm here?" Aaron asked.

"Yes, but tell me why I should duel you." Kaiba said staring him in the eye.

"Well, I have Encryption." Aaron said holding up his phone. "I also have the power of the Orichalcos." Aaron said holding up his glove causing Kaiba to cringe at the painful memory. "I also need to prove something to myself." Aaron said causing Kaiba to let a small smile grow across his face.

"Very well then, but we duel on my terms. We'll duel in the Kaibacorp Stadium tomorrow night at eight. My assistant will take care of everything Kaiba said looking over to a man dressed in a black suit with short black hair and glasses who nodded his head. "I don't plan to go easy on you either."

"I wouldn't expect you to." Aaron said smiling.

Aaron left and went to a hotel, but was turned away based on the way he was dressed. Aaron was about to walk out, but William saw him. "Aaron, you need a place to stay tonight? I have the penthouse all to myself." William said smiling. Aaron smiled at William and followed him to the top floor of the hotel, the penthouse.

"Where am I sleeping?" Aaron asked looking around the expansive hotel room that must be costing William's sponsor a fortune. "You can have the room down the hall, but can we talk about something first?"

"Sure." Aaron said taking a seat in a chair while William sat in the chair across from him.

"What are you hoping to accomplish from this duel with Seto Kaiba?" He asked.

"I want to prove that I'm a strong duelist." Aaron said coldly.

"Ever since our duel, I sensed something more than that. Several corporations will be there, and with your reputation even if you lose you'll probably get offered a sponsorship. Does it have anything to do with that?" William asked.

"I didn't even know that I had a reputation." Aaron responded.

"Sure, you're all over the internet. Saving your school and having an unusual deck and dark personality makes you a person of interest for several duelists and corporations looking to bring a new rookie to the pro circuit. Everyone loves a bad boy." William explained as he projected several web pages on to the big screen TV in the room.

Aaron looked at the screen briefly before standing up and looking at William. "I'm going to bed." Aaron said walking off and locking the door to his room. Aaron took a shower and got ready for bed as he got in to the king size bed and fell asleep as soon as he hit the pillow.

The next day, Aaron woke up early and got dressed. He left William a note thanking him before grabbing his things and leaving the hotel. He wandered around the city until he had to head to the stadium for his duel. When he got there, he was escorted to the main field where he stood on a pedestal that was elevated once he stepped on it. Kaiba was already standing across from him. Aaron looked at the crowd in the stadium, and like William said, there were several corporate CEOs and professional duelists watching the duel take place.

"Let's get this over with." Kaiba said powering on his duel disk. Aaron did the same as the duel started with 4000 life points each. Kaiba drew his card deciding to go first. "I summon Kaibaman and tribute him to summon Blue Eyes White Dragon. I play two cards facedown and end my turn."

Aaron drew his card. "I play End of the World and tribute Slate Warrior and Gil Garth from my hand to summon Demise, King of Armageddon. I activate Demise's ability to destroy all cards on the field. Now Demise, attack him directly." Aaron said as Kaiba's field was wiped clean and his life points fell down to 1600 while Aaron's fell down to 2000. "I end my turn."

Kaiba drew his card. "I play Pot of Greed and draw two cards. I play one card facedown and end my turn."

Aaron drew his card. "Demise, let's finish this." Aaron said as the monster readied its attack.

Kaiba interrupted Aaron's attack. "Sadly for you, I'm not a weak duelist. I play Call of the Haunted and resurrect my Blue Eyes White Dragon."

Aaron stopped his attack. "I play one card facedown and end my turn."

Kaiba drew his card. "I play Graceful Charity and draw three cards and discard two. I play Dragon's Hand Mirror and banish the Blue Eyes on my field and the two that I just sent to my graveyard to summon Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Finish this punk off!" Kaiba ordered his dragon who readied its attack.

"I activate Negate Attack and end this battle." Aaron interrupted.

"You managed to survive another turn. You remind me of that underdog, Wheeler." Kaiba said playing a card facedown.

Aaron drew his card. "I change Demise to defense mode and play another monster facedown. Your move."

Kaiba drew his card. "I summon Vorse Raider. Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, destroy his Demise." Kaiba said smiling as the monster was shattered. "Vorse Raider, destroy his facedown now." Aaron's facedown flipped over to reveal Dandylion as it was destroyed. Two fluff tokens were summoned in its place. "Your move."

Aaron looked at his hand. "Time to go back to my roots." He thought to himself. "I tribute my two tokens to summon Emes the Infinity. I grant him the power of the Orichalcos by equipping him with Fragment of the Orichalcos. Emes, destroy his Vorse Raider." Aaron called out as Kaiba's life points fell down to 500 and his Emes' attack grew to 3500.

Aaron ended his turn while Kaiba drew his card. "Blue Eyes Ultimate, attack his Emes." Aaron winced as his life points fell down to 1000 and he felt the sting of the powerful attack.

Kaiba ended his turn while Aaron drew his card. "I play Sword of the Orichalcos and use its power to turn 900 of my life points in to 1800 attack points for Emes. Emes, destroy his Blue Eyes and end this!" Aaron shouted.

Kaiba interrupted. "I activate Rush Recklessly and grant my Blue Eyes 700 attack points." Kaiba said as he watched his monster still be destroyed by the attack, but his life points were spared as they fell down to 400 while Aaron's Emes' attack grew to 4000. Aaron ended his turn while Kaiba drew his card and smiled. "I play Monster Reborn and bring back Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon. Now, to finish you off. Blue Eyes, attack his Emes." Kaiba said as Aaron's life points were reduced to zero and he fell on to his knee, but quickly stood back up.

The crowd erupted in to cheers as Kaiba walked over to Aaron and extended his hand. Aaron shook it. "You put up a good fight. You might actually have some potential for your future." Kaiba said before walking off. Almost immediately afterwards, Aaron was swarmed by fans and corporate sponsors hoping to sign him. Aaron declined their offers knowing that he had some improvement to work on, and entering the pro circuit would not be a good decision for him right now. Aaron signed a few autographs and took a few pictures with fans before heading to the airport where a helicopter flew him back to the academy.


	59. Chapter 58

**I hate to say it, but this is the last chapter of this story. I hope that you enjoyed reading it this far. You can still fave, follow, and/or review if you want, but there is no point to follow it anymore. I still have other stories to read and more to write, but this one's time has come. Thank you for reading. -TranscodeNightCat**

Aaron got off of the helicopter and returned to his dorm room to think about everything that happened to him in Domino City. "I did the best I could, but it wasn't enough." He sighed as he fell on to his bed and fell asleep.

The next day in class, students swarmed him asking about the duel he had with Kaiba. He reluctantly answered their questions while several teachers told him that he was stupid for even thinking to challenge Kaiba. Once Dr. Crowler said it, Aaron lost control. "Maybe, I would be a better duelist if you could teach me something instead of picking on the Slifers!" Aaron stormed out of class leaving Dr. Crowler cringing at his tone as he stormed out.

Aaron locked himself in his room the rest of the day. Later, Blair knocked on his door. "Can I come in?" She asked opening the door anyway as she walked over to him. "I heard that you let loose on Crowler. Are you okay?" She asked nervously.

"I'm fine. I actually know what I have to do now." Aaron said giving her a hug before she left the room.

"So what are you going to do?" Encryption asked looking over his master.

"You'll see." Aaron told him before grabbing a few things from his closet and placing a phone call before going to bed.

 _…_

"You're leaving!" Blair asked in shock and anger.

"There's nothing more for me here. I'd be wasting my time if I stayed." Aaron told the group who stared at him in shock. "This also means that we have to break up." Aaron told Blair who had tears in her eyes as Aaron hugged her. "I'm sorry, but you need to stay here."

"Best of luck." Jaden said giving him a thumbs up.

"Be sure to visit." Syrus said with a small smile.

"Just don't forget about us." Alexis said with a sigh.

"Don't do anything too stupid." Chazz said with his usual smirk.

"Maybe I'll see you guys again." Aaron said walking back to his dorm to finish packing.

Later that night, Aaron stood on the docks with a black backpack with a white trim was on his back, and an aluminum briefcase was in his hand containing his laptop and Encryption's ten rare cards. "So where are you going to go?" Jaden asked standing nearby with the others.

"I don't really know. Wherever fate takes me I guess." Aaron said waving to them and giving Blair one more hug before getting on to the boat. "I'll try to contact you guys when I can." He said as the boat left.

 **I'm going to repeat it because it's so important. I hate to say it, but this is the last chapter of this story. I hope that you enjoyed reading it this far. You can still fave, follow, and/or review if you want, but there is no point to follow it anymore. I still have other stories to read and more to write, but this one's time has come. Thank you for reading. -TranscodeNightCat**

 **There is a silver lining now, this story is continuing in to the Zexal Universe. A Former Student a New World is already out.**


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